#cloud clinic toronto | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

msbarrows · 4 years ago

Text

Cataracts - What Surgery Is Like

As previously mentioned, I’d developed cataracts and am now going through surgery for them, and have elected to document a bit about what it’s all like from my viewpoint. Mostly because I think it’d make a nice reference for anyone wanting to write with some degree of accuracy about what it’s like from the inside.

This post contains a description of the surgical process involved and what that actually feels like, I’m trying not to be overly graphic but I’m also not elliding over any of the grosser bits (thankfully and surprisingly very little).

First off, a descriptiong of the preliminaries. This started for me with my vision going blurry over the last couple of years, and finally getting around to visiting my old optomitrist when I happened to be in Toronto over last Christmas (as my one up north just retired a couple years ago, and I hadn’t replaced her yet). Of the several potential causes for the vision loss I was experiecing, what I had turned out to be cataracts, of the variety that occurs at the back of the lens and therefor doesn’t cause easily-visible clouding. Which I actually said “Oh, thank god!” to when the optomitrist told me, since they are the absolute easiest thing to fix, while some of the other options (detached retina, or diabetes-related macular degradation, to name a couple) are much less so. Then he gave me a reference to an opthamologist. Thanks to COVID-19, it was this fall before I was finally able to actually get to the clinic and see her.

From my point of view, the process then went pretty quickly. Note that I was at an eye institute that specializes in cataract treatment; everything is contained in one building (a nicely renovated Victorian brick house in the Annex area of Toronto). So all tests and surgery are done on premises.

First appointment there, they did the same sort of vision tests my optomitrist generally does, plus some extra inner-eye photography to get a good look at what was going on. This was done by two different people, one doing the eye-chart related tests and a different one doing the photography. Then I met briefly with my doctor, who looked over my questionnaire (which included questions like whether near, mid, or distance vision was most important to me, and was there a focal distance I particularly needed to be glasses free for, etc.), and that I didn’t need nor have interest in a lens replacement that wasn’t covered under our provincial health care.

A week later I returned for them to perform eye measurement tests, which are used as a basis for manufacturing the replacement lens. They measure the size and shape of the eye, and mostly just involved staring into various machines while photos are taken. The weirdest one, which they did last, involved dripping numbing drops into my eyes, and then lightly pressing a small sensor to multiple places both directly on the eyeballs and then on the closed lids. Something to do with viscosity I’d assume.

And now for a description of the general surgical process, which you can also find summarized (or in more detail) at a number of medical web sites. In my case, it was a pretty basic surgery being performed; the opthamologist needed to make a small slit in the outer layer of my eye, used a tiny probe to break down the lens using ultrasound waves, vacuum out the broken down lens, then use a largish needle to insert a folded plastic lens into the eye, where it would unfold within the capsular space and could be tweaked as needed into the correct position. The cut in the eye is tiny enough that it usually doesn’t even need stitching, apparently.

I was asked to arrive at a specific time, and had to start applying dilating drops to my eyes an hour, half-hour, and five minutes before leaving for the clinic. No nail polish or facial makeup. Preferable wearing comfortable pants and a loosely short-sleeved button front shirt without any undershirt or long underwear beneath it (which turns out to be a “just in case things go crazily sideways” measure; they didn’t actually need to access anything on my torso).

The first step after I arrived at the clinic was being dressed in PPE - one of their own disposable masks to be sure I was wearing a good enough one (that wasn’t coated in whatever mine had picked up outside), a hair cap, a long-sleeved thigh-length blue plasticized robe (it had thumb holes to prevent the sleeves from slipping), and booties over my shoes.

Then I was taken to their surgical floor, where a nurse began a series of eye drops. These included more dilation, an antispectic, and an antibiotic, that I can remember - multiple drops of all. She also gave me a teeny tiny pill to place under my tongue and let dissolved, which contained a small dose of a relaxant/anti-anxiety med (Sorry, she told me the name of it at the time but it’s dropped out of my memory). I didn’t notice any particular change in my mood, but then I’d been counting slow deep breaths since arriving (4 seconds in, 4 seconds out...) to help keep myself relaxed and give myself something to focus on that wasn’t omfg I’m going to be awake during this! Because yeah, not having a clue what it was going to be like was stressful. Nurse also took my blood pressure to be sure I was fine in that regards, and put a sticker on the gown to remind the doctor that it was my right eye being done that day.

After a brief wait, I was moved into one of the surgical theatres, where there was a dentist chair they sat me in, then connected a blood pressure cuff, fingertip monitor (hence the no nail polish rule) and sensors on the backs of both hands and one ankle (I’m assuming those were measuring a mix of blood oxygenation and heartbeat, with the ankle one making sure my feet were still getting blood when I was spending the surgery in what ended up as a tipped-over-backwards with head lowest position). They then rinsed my eye and the orbital area with bactine (very yellow vision while that happens), then patted the area around the eye dry.

The doctor sat at my head, and applied a medical drape with a pre-cut adhesive-edged opening over my eye, then peeled off a translucent applique that was over the hole. Then they applied medical clamps that held my eyelids in the open position (which thanks to the numbing drops, I didn’t feel at all). A brightly lighted microscope was then positioned over the eye, and I was told to stay as still as possible and stare at the red dot in the lighted area. The doctor then did the surgery as described above. From my point of view, there was very little to feel; occasional dull pressure, some random coldness that I believe was the eye being irrigated. I could hear the occasional very quiet noise the probe made as the lens was sucked away, but mostly it was just staring at the red light as well as I could while my vision distorted oddly and I continue counting breaths. Within what felt like no more than 5-10 minutes (if that), it was all over with.

They had me continue to lie there for a couple minutes while they peeled off the drape, wiped the eye area clean, and removed all the sensors, then a brief rest before having me sit up.

I blinked once or twice, and... DAMN! Sudden near-perfect vision in an eye that hasn’t seen clearly without help since I was in single digit ages. And the saturation. The detail.

Now, my left eye of course still has a cataract (it gets treated next week). I’d been telling people for a while that basically all my right eye was seeing was blur, so my left eye was doing most of the seeing, and I thought my left eye wasn’t anywhere near as bad as my right. With my right eye now seeing perfectly, I could now alternate opening eyes from side to side, and see just how badly (and irregularly) blurred and yellowed the left lens actually is. To which I can only saw, WTF, how was I even seeing anything at all!?

Then they had me sit for a while in the waiting area, where the doctor came and double-checked I was fine, and gave me a kit in a plastic bag of a card that identifies that I have an interocular lens (and info about it), a prescription for two different eye drops (antibiotic and anti-inflamatory) which was enough for both this eye and the eye getting operated on next week, and a shield to wear at night for the first five nights, to be sure I don’t accidentally rub it or put pressure on it.

Then I put on sunglasses (because hugely dilated eye) and walked out.

Side note - they won’t do your operation unless you have a ride home arranged; because that tiny pill means you’re in a slightly altered state, among other reasons. Good thing it was my brother and not, say, a taxi, since among other things it took us three drugstores to find one that actually had both kinds of eyedrops in stock, yay super fun.

Also, remember me talking about the starburst rays I was seeing around lights due to cataracts? While my eye was still dilated (which lasted until after midnight) I was seeing what I can only describe as ‘Ferris wheels’ - a burst of rays expanding out like the spokes of a wheel, and ending in an uneven ring of dots of bright light, each wheel matching the colour of the light causing it. Looked wild at night. Thankfully that effect has now gone away.

Had a follow-up appointment this morning where they did an eye chart and the rebounce test where they puff air at your cornea, and the opthamologist says the vision in that eye tested as 20/20 (WOOO! Finally something good with that number). I can see sharply and clearly for blocks from the mid-range on out. Sadly when I try to use my computer, tablet, etc (near-range and close vision) the eye can’t focus down far enough; some of that may improve over the next month or two as the eye continues healing, and adapting to the lens. In the meantime my sister suggested I try a pair of her reading glasses and, yay, that worked. I am now planning that after my follow-up appointment for next week’s surgery on the left eye, I’ll run around and pick up 2-3 pairs of reading glasses of various strengths (which I will get will depend on what seems to work best with arm’s length and close-in viewing), to carry me through until I go back to an optomitrist in a month or three, and get my vision evaluated to see if I need actual prescription reading and/or far distance glasses.

In the meantime, apart from computer/tablet use, I am glasses free. I can’t even remember ever having such sharp, clear, and saturated vision (since I’ve been in glasses for such a long time). You know the “oh, trees are made of leaves!” effect? I am getting that with every single thing I look at. Oh, that’s how much grey is in my hair? Weird, I never noticed this wall was textured before. Oh geez, that text over there is so small and yet I AM READING IT. I mean, even with glasses I probably was never able to read that from this distance! Etc ad infinitum.

It’s just so, so nice.

And that’s with just one eye finished. I am now really looking forward to next week’s surgery. Stress? What stress!?

#Cataracts #Me Myself and I #If you've ever wondered what having cataract surgery was actually like...#CW: Surgery Details

6 notes · View notes

lillaxtrigger · 4 years ago

Text

Faded Land: Chapter 22

The darkened clouds that cast their shadows upon Mississauga began to drizzle down onto the city of flickering battery and spark plug built buildings and glass walkways; the booming thunder that bangs from above reverberating throughout the winding streets. The pouring rain drips down onto the crumbled ruins of the city’s once incredible power plant; a whole platoon of armored soldiers left to dig through the cracked remains of the once bountiful home of constantly generating power; the legendary soldier herself watching as her fellow troopers shovel through the broken steel, stone and shattered glass. Coming upon a piece of rock that boasted to be several times the general’s size, Vira punches through its hardened surface as effortlessly as piercing through mud; lifting the massive piece of broken off earth just as easily. The other soldiers cease digging as they all watch their superior toss the huge bolder aside like a simple piece of garbage; some of them backing away before the giant rock could crash where they stand. Having thrown the chunk of earth away, the giant general sweeps away whatever rubble there was left underneath; all to uncover a fragment of stainless steel barring a bright pink streak across its metal surface. With gentle hands does the soldier in red pull the piece of armor out from the bits of rubble, removing her helmet to gaze upon what reflection its surface could muster with a mourning stare. As she continues to stare within its fractured reflection, her sorrowing gaze slowly transforms into a vengeful glare; breaking her eyes off the piece of armor and up to the towering city in the distance as her own armor shines from the bright bolt that strikes behind her.

That very same lightning glimmers against the collective surfaces of several buildings that suspend themselves in the air; the scientist standing right at the very bottom as she stares up to the rest of the city that floats above, each structure perched further above the other until passing the very storm clouds themselves. New Toronto, the Canadian country’s capital; the final destination on the scientist journey. So much sacrifice has been poured in just to simply stand before here, it’d be heartbreaking for anyone else. But this particular journey is one where such relinquishment can’t be taken for granted; not for what the goal of this grueling trip truly is… Wiping away the mixture of dripping rain and tears from her eyes, Clara pulls up a hood hanging from the back of her head to conceal her noticing features; soon starting her final trek through from the very bottom of the city in the sky.

When finally crossing through New Toronto’s city limits, the first part of the towering town that the scientist comes to discover is the countless walkways that line up, down, and all around the warped structures and buildings that hover above; witnessing dozens upon dozens of citizens and city goers casually stroll through these twisting, sideways, and upside down streets as if it were an everyday practice. Even when beholding such physics defying at work before her, none of what’s displayed before her so much as impresses the scientist at this point anymore; seeing such mind bending technology implemented in other places before. Aiming her gaze higher towards the dense cluster of curving walkways and hovering buildings, the scientist fails to find even a single piece of the stormy sky above; much less K-labs itself. Kinda looks like one of those cities from the sci fi movies that the labs back in the past would play during breaks. The look on Arthur's face when those movies showed the panning vista shots of them with all the technology being implemented; he seriously looked like a little kid just staring in awe while going through the video game section at a Walmart. Pretty funny thinking back now how that whole fantasy practically became a reality; he must have broken down in tears when seeing all of this.

After this little past reflection does the hooded scientist start the first steps of her climb up New Toronto at a lone walkway ramp that curves straight up towards the higher parts of town; watching people vertically waltz up like they’ve done so a thousand times before. The young scientist begins such a climb herself without so much as a single spark of amazement on her face; the fact that she’s this sort of physics defying architecture being implemented in dollar stores of all places just kinda downplays the magic. While waltzing up the ramp herself, Clara could feel her very center of gravity be drawn to vertically rising path; soon realizing that the same couldn’t be said for her clothing as her hood threatens to droop down and expose her to the passing city goers. With a swift hand does the young woman grasp the rim of her hood before it could flop down; keeping it clutched above her head as she continues strolling further upwards. Her nerves were already starting to wind up from this close call, but they begin to tighten much more when noticing some flying metallic spheres fluttering around the city; one of them glancing her general direction with its glowing pupil. So many eyes; can’t go for a single moment without something watching. Wish there was something more concealing and private around here. This dirty hood left abandoned at the side of a highway just isn’t enough. It ain’t like getting one off of somebody ain’t that much of an option out here; it be the quickest way to get the mounties all over the place. There ain’t no way in hell is that something that can be afforded, not after coming so far. It’d be a disaster to have all the grueling effort from these past several months to go up in flame like that, especially when getting so close.

As she starts to ponder on that worrying dilemma, another one suddenly presents itself in the form of a sharp pain in her arm; the scientist resisting the urge to grasp her limb as a small hiss escapes between her teeth. God damn! That bruise back at the power plant still hasn’t healed yet; and its throbbing like hell. Despite the ongoing soreness, the scientist continues to climb up the ascending street path until making it to another ramp; twisting from a sideways wall straight into an upside down path. Soon as the scientist fells her own gravitational pull shift upwards towards the solid vertical ground, she lets go of her hood and grasps the sore spot of her arm; feeling the couple bumps and bruises from underneath her sleeve. God this is bad. Can’t just go walking around town with a bruised arm like this; people might notice and stop to ask to help...Okay, some people might ask to help…A couple?...Yeah a couple. In any case, there ain’t no way its gonna heal by itself in time, this needs to be fixed before it starts to become a real problem. But how to patch it up? It ain’t like going to a hospital is much of an option in this case. They might ask to take off the hood, recognize their patient and call the mounties before even reaching the doctors office. Gotta be a way to fix this without seeing a doctor. A rejuvenation chamber of some kind, a public clinic, something to help get by.

With fixing her arm being a top priority at the moment, Clara peers through the surrounding streets for any sort of facility that could help her as discreetly as possible; even going to the store and buying some cheap name brand gauze would work at this point. In her little search around the streets, Clara comes to see vast stretches of hovering roads that twist, curve, and warp as much as the walkways that entwine around them; the futuristic cars that travel through these rain soaked roads smoothly flowing through them without so much as a hiccup. Seeing the way they slide smoothly and with such organized grace kinda distracts the young woman from the pulsing soreness coursing through her arm. In the midst of beholding this site of automobile ingenuity and design do eyes catch the glimmering of a glowing red cross out a ways up the twisted freeway; possibly the sign of a clinic out in this district. At the very least, it might be worth the visit to sneak out some supplies. Just gotta make sure there aren’t any peeping eyes floating around and keeping watch. While keeping a gentle hand upon her bruised arm, the scientist starts her little venture out towards the glowing cross out in the distant; the pouring rain beginning to come down harder than before.

As the scientist attempts to navigate her way up, down, and all around the city of twirling sidewalks and hovering buildings, she winds up smack in the middle of a sort of shopping district; shops and stores sprawling almost every single direction she looks. Clothing, shoes, medication, food, almost all the sort of basic necessitates you could think of was on display in all the shops that surround her; Clara’s eyes widening when discovering the almost dirt cheap prices that some of them go for. Holy shit! $1 for a bottle of melatonin, $5 for a pair of new shoes, $2 for a shirt and jeans combo, $15 for a mattress and frame combo, $20 for a couch, $11 for tables, $30 for dinning sets; the prices for some of these thing are practically baffling the young scientist. Stuff like this would cost so much more back in the past. Even the basic furnishing went for around for $50 at least. Kind of a shocker here too considering the kind of cash they were seriously expecting people to pay back in New Hamilton.

But even the very prices that she sees these items going for doesn’t stuns the scientist as what she sees within the windows of the grocery stores; discovering them offering insanely massive foods grown 7 times their normal sizes, all being offered for even less. Juices, dairy, snacks, fruit, vegetables, meats, breads, alcohol, any sort of product that could be realistically consumed was available for purchase was marked for as little as 2 dollars at most; and hordes people were lapping them all up like there was no tomorrow. And just when they seem to be on the verge of selling out, more of them just warp right inside and restock just as fast. Jesus! The size of these things! Some of them could be used as legit blunt force weapons. Like a watermelon could already cause a concussion if ya slammed it against somebody’s head; imagine the kind of damage all these other foods could do. Course, that’d be a hell of a waste with food this giant. Who’s sellin this stuff anyway?

Taking a quick glance above the store, the scientist discovers a bright holographic sign hovering overhead; etching the store’s very name in lights as: “Synthetic Mega food grocery. Produces grown within K-labs.” Well, guess partial world hunger is something on the checklist they have on solving; and from the looks of things, they’ve been making a ton of progress on that front. Seeing the quite literal fruits of how far science has progressed, hints of bubbling pride begin to boil within her; pride of how much science has changed the very world that she travels through. Of course, she knows full well that this sort of progress was brought about by years of suffering; a fact of which she’s witnessed the aftermath of first hand. Is it really worth all this? Speaking of suffering, her conflicting feelings of scientific pride and humanitarian shame are swiftly replaced by the sharp pain coursing through her arm; ever eager to remind Clara for her own need of aid and urging her to continue forth.

After a brisk walk past the rest of the shopping district, the scientist comes to what the glowing bright red cross beckons to; finding a small trapezoid facility hovering in the middle of the district. Doesn’t seem that big enough to be a fully equip hospital. Though it seems small enough to be a doctors office, could be the districts local clinic. A glance to the sides of the facility show holographic signs that read how its: “Services are free of charge.” Along side another that claims that: “Medical supplies and shots at the ready.” Seems like the perfect place to privately fix folks right up. Should have little trouble going in and out without so much as a suspicious glare.

Strolling through the offices front doorway, the very first site that greets the scientist beyond the receptionist’s desk be a ton of various people of all shapes and sizes; each of them patiently awaiting for there turn to be fixed. While she found some of the patients to be more genuine and upfront to the world around them, others seemed rather shady and suspicious; opting to hide their identities under the veils of their hoods like her. Guess this clinic gives not a single fuck who comes in; just as long as they need aid, they’re more than willing to help. The rather perfect place for people of all backgrounds to go. When finally approaching the smoking man behind the receptionists desk, Clara doesn’t even get a word out before he drearily tells her to: “Take a number and have a seat...” “Actually, all I really got is a bruised arm. Just kinda wondering if you guys have any medical supplies that could patch it up?” Drifting his baggy eyes up to the waiting young woman, the smoking man lets out a tired sigh and points to the side as he instructs her to: “Just wait in that line over there to stick your arm in the healing slot.” Glancing in the direction the receptionists points towards, Clara finds on the other side of the waiting room a sizable line of people that stand in waiting for a pair of glowing holes in the wall; both of them letting out a soft sky blue glow from their very depths. “Eh, thank you.” she thanks while waltzing towards the very back of the line. Upon taking her place at the back of the sizable line, a weary sigh escapes from the scientists lungs as she keeps a grip on her sore arm; with all she could do was hope that she wouldn’t have to wait long.

Several minutes pass by during the young woman’s wait for her turn for the slots; the line she stands in moving only a few inches at a time, all the while still feeling the stinging pain course through her limb. God, how much longer is this line gonna go? Can barely feel anything but pain at this point. Just don’t think about it. Just need a distraction from it. Thinking this do her eyes begin to dart around the waiting for anything that could take her mind off the pain pulsing through her bruised limb; her site eventually gluing itself to a holographic screen perched at the top of the corner. Perfect. Some mind numbing TV outta do the trick.

Though rather than tuning in to any sort of show, the holo TV comes to show her a commercial featuring K-Labs logo as a backdrop; a stunningly beautiful woman announcing to whoever may be listening that: “From the people who have brought you so many amazing pieces of technology and advancements, don’t miss out on K-Labs annual facility tours! Take this special moment to glimpse at what sort of future that its scientists are making for the generations that lay beyond your years. Wonder in awe at what our research and development divisions are creating for the people of tomorrow. Even take the chance to try out a few upcoming gizmo’s and gadgets that have yet to hit the market.” Saying all this does the commercial show a myriad of machines and inventions that pique Clara’s own interest; some of them seemingly being as non conventional as possible while demonstrating what they do. A square that floats above and erects a barrier around a person, a glove which emits a laser that lets people pick the heaviest of things up like nothing, a big solid block that can turn into any shape one desires, a flash device that can freeze what’s inside in but an instant; and all that’s just what they show on screen while the announcer continues with: “Just one more day to take this yearly opportunity. Come and behold the science of tomorrow being made today. Tours are open from 9 to 5.” After mentioning this little warning does the commercial finally end, with another following it about dental cream taking its place.

An annual tour like that could be the perfect opportunity to slip right on inside; ask about Arthur, break off from the tour group and move out from there. Seemed like the best plan to take. They said tours close at 5. Wonder what time it is? Curious of the time do her eyes once more wander around the clinic’s waiting room, soon to discover a holographic clock floating above the entrance that displays the current time; showing the moment to just strike 10. So 7 hours til closing. 7 hours to get to the very top of this city. 7 hours to get in and fix all of this. It practically took all day to reach close to the top of New Hamilton, who knows how much time it would take to get to K-lab before visiting hours come to a close; just hope that this little line picks up the pace.

It only takes to be a couple more minutes before it comes to be the scientist turn to use the pair of healing slots; the twin holes glow shinning against the scientist’s face. Simply glaring to the bright slots causes her to hesitate on shoving her whole limb in one of them, wondering how she expects a couple of bright holes to restore her arm right away. Taking another glance to the clock above the door shows the time to be ticking, the countdown pressuring her to hurry and shove her arm straight in; that and the people in line behind her hounding her to hurry with delightful phrases such as: “Come on! Hurry up, dammit!” “The hell are standing around for? Just use it already!” “Fucking stick it in! My fingers are broken!” Pushed to do so by the line of people behind her, the scientist slowly inches her battered and bruised arm right into the slot; soon to feel something within take a tight grasp at her limb. As soon as she feels her arm being locked within the slot, the scientist knee jerk reaction is to attempt and pull her limb right back out; the young woman struggling to free herself from the walls binds as the sky blue glow starts to intensify.

The rising panic that starts to boil within her begins to simmer down when feeling the pressure holding her arm in place start to loosen up; the bright light that beats against the scientist swiftly dimming down as Clara calms herself. After the last of its light fades, the young woman slips her arm right out of the slot; the stinging pain that once plagued her limb now nothing more than a memory. Lifting the sleeve up proved that the scientist arm was completely healed of any ailments that it once held, her tan skin free from reddening bruises and bumps; the young woman moving her arm about without a single piece of pain coursing through. While she remains relieved that the pain had finally subsided, the restless line behind her causes her to jump when hearing them pester her with: “Get out of line, dammit!” “Move along!” “Got other people here waiting!” “Fucking leave!” These hounding prove to be more than enough motivation for the scientist to step out of line and finally let the others have there turn, Clara making a beeline straight through the humble clinic’s exit.

Stepping out into the pouring rain with her freshly healed arm, the young scientist starts to wonder what her next move should be; knowing full well that time is of the draining essence in this war against the clock. Speaking of war, there’s still little found out of what kicked off the whole war between the U.S and Canada in the first place. All the info that had been dug up so far was a brief synopses of how it started and ended; not really enough detail to work with here. Course, there wasn’t really much time to get into details anyway. Those neural computers sure know how to burn up a bunch of time. A few minutes could translate to hours when hooked up to one of those things. It’d be a hell of a risk to try and use one now, especially with an opportunity fleeting at the moment. Something physical would likely be a better choice to keep the time from escaping. But its not like physical books and media are a common thing in this time period; hell, they were practically on the verge of being obsolete by the time this scientist turned 20. With those options out the window, the only way practically anyone could do research in such a short time frame would be with one of those fancy holo phones that these people have nowadays. Of course, the risk of even attempting to nab one of these off of some poor bastard was already a potential threat. If its stolen, then the owner could have it track the thief and let the cops handle it from there; it’d be the fastest way to get yer ass busted. Still, there’s gotta be a way to get your mitts on one without having to impose so much risk. Maybe after taking one, just briefly use it to look up more history on the war and toss it away before the mounties could trace it back. But simply attempting to steal one directly couldn’t possibly end all that well; there could be much less trouble sneakingly snatching one up without its owner being none the wiser until its far too late. But where might be the best place to do so; somewhere one could passively just sneak a phone out of somebodies pocket within the chaos that the daily grind inflicts. … Maybe at that grocery with the fun sized food. Its hella packed in there. From the small local clinic, the freshly fixed scientist trudges through the pouring rain on her way back to the shopping district; feeling the water beat on all her sides while traveling through the twisting sidewalks.

Eventually does the scientist manage to venture back to the very grocery that offers such bountiful fruits and food, finding the early bird flock still as dense and frenzied as when she first witnessed them. The perfect storm of chaos to rob someone blind. Hoping for this does Clara take in a deep breath before plunging through the grocery’s doorway; delving through the tight crowd while keeping a tight grip on her concealing hood.

Swimming through the packed marketplace, the young woman’s eyes skim along the surrounding shopgoers she passes by; noticing a mixture of people with seemingly different economic backgrounds from what they wear. True, attire isn’t really that much of an indication whether these people may be well off, but what else is there to go by at this point? And it seems that people of various of background have gathered here to take advantage of these incredible deals; and who could honestly blame them? The sort of bulky sized stuff they’re offering at such a low prices could very well feed a family of um...8? 10? Maybe 11? Lets go with ten to even it out. Such a varying could spur to be a difficult challenge to swipe from, even when considering that some of them may not have holo phones at all. And none of that is even considering her escape once snatching such a coveted prize; simply coming right on inside this store without so much as purchasing a thing would seem rather suspicious to any sort of security, especially in a big store such as this. There’s about 10 bucks left in the pack, and the old food pouch is running a little low anyway; might as well pick something up while here. But what to buy? Half the stuff around here wouldn’t even come close to fitting in this bag. It needs to be something small enough to carry around.

Heading further through the fun sized food market, the scientist takes a close gander at what sort of products this store has up for sale; gazing through the assortment of massively overgrown foods that they have on display, all the while hearing the people around her murmur on with: “You hear about what happened last night in Mississauga?” “Yeah, the main power plant collapsed. Heard some mercenary group wound up causing it to fall.” “Are you sure it was the main power plant? Everything would be falling down if it were.” “It was, but you’re forgetting out the back up generators here in New Toronto’s.” “Right, they can keep this whole city running for about five years. It should give the government plenty of time to bring the infrastructure back online.”

Despite her stomachs growling protests, the food set along the aisles isn’t what holds her attention as her eyes dart throughout the store for who she could swipe a holo phone from. Among them all could she spot people in rags that look to be clinging on by their upcoming welfare checks, and then there were others that were donned in finely sown clothing and accessories that seem to hold more money then they know what to do with. Some of them were tiny, some of them were huge, some were tired and lethargic, some were alert and paranoid; the wide range of folks going through the store seems almost endless. And then there’s the whole ploy of actually attempting to snatch one up without getting caught. So many eyes walking around, so many of them floating through the air. Suppose sneaking the old fingers in someones purse wouldn’t be the best idea, would it? Might be better to make a scene that seems to be more of an accident. Even if it draws a crowd, it could still passed off as an honest mistake.

While pondering on how she could go about setting up this little “accident”, Clara takes the time to admire through the selection of insanely huge products set on the store shelves; some of them rivaling the size of her own body. Like seriously, stuff like this would be equivalent to bulk stuff back in the past. There ain’t no way in hell that any of this stuff would fit in such a small backpack, especially with it being as crammed as it is. In thinking this does she finally notice some food items left along the side that seemed reasonably small compared to the rest of the products; glazing over them to find packs of cookies, crackers, chips, and all sorts of snacks. Looks like some stuff that could be snacked on while climbing up the city. Ooh, cheese puffs! Swiping up the modest bag of cheesy snacks, Clara continues further through the store’s aisles; now fully focused on finding someone she could snatch a phone from.

Peeking out from the very end of an aisle of jumbo sized bread and biscuits, the scientist comes to discover somebody among the crowd of market goers that she could perhaps reliably swipe from; the young woman’s site locked to a single middle aged woman dressed in silk, accompanied by a couple of young children that keep her constant attention. Scatterbrained, exhausted, stressed, worried, distracted. Seems like the perfect person to snatch something from. The way she’s so strung out, it would take at least half an hour before she ‘d realize her phone went missing. Plenty of time to race out the door and look stuff up on the war. She probably has it stashed away in her purse along with tons of other junk like her check and cards, cash, keys, maybe even some wet whips for the kids; just need a way to get it out and take it without anyone noticing. ...Good god, what has happened to me?

Moving out from beyond the shelves of oversized wheat bread, Clara begins to quietly starts to stalk the stressed out mother of two while a plan begins to brew within her head; dashing from aisle to aisle to keep out of site from any watching eyes. The stressed mother can’t help but keep her two kids in line at both of them attempt to grab almost everything they could get their mitts on; pulling them back to her own kart already filled with all sorts of products that threaten to tip out from the rim. The middle aged woman proves far too distracted by her own children to notice the hooded woman stealthily moving closer to her in the background; her attention baited away and giving the scientist the moment she needs to move ahead. After getting far enough ahead of the distracted mother, hooded woman hides herself in an aisle of vintage whines and stocks of alcoholic beverages; the scientist quickly scanning through her surroundings to find only a single man on his way out beyond the shelves of booze. Once the man finally wanders out from the aisle, Clara begins to creep towards the opposite end and takes a peek out into the open; witnessing the middle aged mother and her kids casually strolling in her direction. Upon finding the mom approaching her way, the young woman starts to retreat further into the aisle as she starts to slip her pack off her back. Lets hope nothing in here breaks. A single crack in anything could wind up being a total disaster. Just need to be gentle enough.

Picturing the middle aged woman’s position in her head, the scientist lets a few more moments slip past her as her ears begin to pick up the echoes of her children; soon starting to charge forth in a brisk walk as she hears the children crying out with: “But mom, they’re really yummy. We have to get them.” “Yeah, Just one box mom. We won’t ask for anything else.” “You two always say that and you go asking something else about two minutes later.” Right at the very moment that the woman denies the request of her children, the mother feels somebody run straight into her; both her and the hooded scientist spilling the contents of their bag onto the store’s marble tile. “Mom!” “Mommy!” The children’s alarmed scream draws the attention of nearby shop goers, some gathering around with their eyes glued to the four as both the women pick themselves off the floor.

Once recovering from the planned blunder, Clara is the first to apologies with: “Ah...Sorry about that. Didn’t really see where I was going.” “Nnn...It’s alright, honey. These blunders just happen sometimes. I’m just so scatter brained with my kids these days, that I lose track of what’s around me.” the mother kindly claims while her kids pick her off the floor. “Yeah, I kinda know how all that feels.” the scientist sympathizes as she kneels down to the split contents of both of their bags; glazing through the floor for any sign of a small cube while picking own stuff up. “Oh, you have kids of your own?” “Eh, not really. I was referring to more to keeping up with work than with children. I imagine the stress isn’t that much different.” “It really isn’t. But you wanna know how I get through it all?” “How?” “When I’m feeling that my whole world feels like it’s on the verge of imploding, I just tell myself how it isn’t all as out of control as it seems; that I can take my time and ring all this in. It doesn’t matter how chaotic as it can be; my problems aren’t as big as they may seem.” While the mother lends this piece of life advice upon her, Clara herself manages to finally spot a small lone cube sitting among discarded silver utensils, lipstick and magenta eyeliner, and a couple of strangely shaped wallets. After a quick look to the occupied mother’s children, the scientist finds both of them left distracted by what lies beyond the neighboring aisle; the young woman swipe the small cube out among the mess of other miscellaneous junk scattered on the marble tile and dunks it straight into her bag. Once she nestles the cube into her bag, Clara sweeps the rest of her equipment right off the floor and stuffs it into her bag as well; swiftly arising from the stores floor and casually begins walking off as she claims that: “Well, its been nice bumping into you, but I gotta get going. Hope I can catch up with you real soon.”

“Wait a second!” she then hears the mother rashly demand, her sudden words causing every hair underneath the scientists hood to stand on end. Slowly creaking her head back towards the mom of two, Clara responds to her order with a stuttering: “So-something up?” From the unexpected demand, the mother and her children approach the scientist not with accusing glares, but rather with more concerned eyes; informing the scientist how: “You almost forgot something.” Upon hearing this, Clara glances down to one of the mothers children to find the boy holding the onyx case that contains her nuclear battery; drawing forth a shocked breath as she says how: “Oh god! I can’t believe I nearly missed that. Thanks for catching it when you did. I’d be in a lot of trouble if I wound up losing it.” As the young boy kindly hands the black case over to the young woman, the lad can’t help but question: “Do you know what’s inside this?” “Em...just something really special.” “Matty, I told you about poking your nose in other people’s business, haven’t I?” the mom tells off her little boy as her and her children go about there marry way. “Sorry...” Before she could turn the corner into another aisle, the middle aged mom glances back to the young woman and reminding her to: “Remember what I said about work. It’s not as big as it seems.”

Hearing the mom’s words of wisdom paints a warm smile upon the scientists face, a grin that starts to deflate as she gazes at her own reflection on the onyx surface of her battery case; the guilt in her eyes clear to see within the dark reflection. Despite the growing regret gnawing away at her spirit, Clara resolve remains resolute as the grip she has on her battery case tightens; dunking the black box back in her bag as she starts to venture back towards the checkout counter.

Once returning to the front of the grocery store, the scientists eyes widen from the astonishing site presented before her; discovering countless people all lined up at the dozens of checkout counters that stand near the exits. Holy shit! Look at all of them! Each of these lines have to stretch around 60 feet. Of course the whole place would be packed like this; practically had to trudge through hordes of people just to move through the aisles. At this rate, it’d take all day to get through one of these lines, and who knows how much longer it’ll take that mom to realize her phone was stolen. But it might not be that bad. Only carrying a bag of chips here. A place this big has to have a fast lane somewhere.

Waltzing past the lines of waiting customers, the scientist starts to head down the other end of the store in hopes of her little guess to be correct; noticing the checkout counters to be infested with fridges and shelves that hold all sorts of beverages and snacks within. Guess that old business strategy of planting snacks and drinks at the end of a shopping season is still holding strong after all these countless years.

Once finally making it to the other end of the grocery store, the scientist finds her educated guess to be right on point as she beholds a small checkout void from any waiting customers; Clara briskly strolling towards the start of the fast lane with the bag of cheese puffs in hand. The very moment that the young woman steps beside the start of the checkout counter, a strange force whisks her right to the very end; Clara keeping her hood from falling off as a holographic square scans the snacks in her hand. While recovering from the unexpected push, a holographic cashier appears right beside her; the scientist seeing the man reach his hand out to her as he kindly requests that: “That’ll be $1.50 for the Super Cheesy Puffs, please.” “Uh, sure.” the young woman agrees with while starting to dig through her backpack. From the very depths of her bag does Clara pull out the total that the man of synthetic light had request her to give; placing the amount on the counter and watching it be swallowed by the surface. Once the money phases through the counter, Clara is swiftly pushed out of the fast lane as she hears the holographic man bid farewell to her with: “Thank you for shopping at Synthetic Mega food grocery. Have a pleasant day.” Guessing they opt to redesign the fast lane to be a lot more literal.

Just as the young scientist was heading out towards the grocery’s exit, her ears catch a familiar voice coming from behind muttering out in a panic; caught off guard when glancing back to discover the voice to be from the mother that she had encountered. When seeing their mother patting herself down, one of them asks her: “Mom, what’s wrong?” “My phone. It’s gone. It’s not in my purse, it’s not in my pockets. Where could it have gone?” “Maybe you dropped it somewhere.” “Yeah, why don’t we help you look for it.” Clara has to practically force herself to look away from the single mother and her children as she starts to walk towards the store’s exit; walking closer to the doorway as she hears the mom claim out that: “This can’t be happening. I only had just two more payments left for it.” Once finally stepping outside, the middle aged woman’s worrisome cries are swiftly drowned out by the pouring rain; the beating downpour mixing well with the guilt weighing her down as she sprints as fast as she could from the store doors.

Putting as much distance from the grocery of oversized foods as she could, the young scientist darts through the thunderstorm that pours upon the twisted and warp sidewalk; feeling the downpour on her sides as she races forth. When finally getting far enough from the store she had robbed from, Clara stops at a nearby bench shielded from the pouring rain; sitting her wet ass down upon its steel to dig in her pack. Out from the bottom of her bag, she pulls out the very cube that she had stolen from the mother of two; gazing along its side for a way to make it work. Pretty sure there was a button somewhere to open it up. Discovering a single button along one of the cubes side, the scientist immediately presses it to let the device expand before her very eyes; a bright light emerging from its very middle as it all forms into a holographic square held together by pieces of the unfolded surface. The very first image that the futuristic phone shows the scientist is a mans heartwarming smile as the background picture; a myriad of applications littering the pictures foreground. If the phones of the past could browse the internet as good as any computer, then one this advance should do the same; perhaps even quicker and more efficiently. Though as tempting it would be to start this study season on the war now, out in the open like this might not be the best place top start researching. People might get a little worried seeing somebody standing still and staring at their phone like some sort of brain dead moron. … Actually, scratch that; they probably wouldn’t. But still, might be better to find somewhere else to read up and not be bothered. In the middle of thinking all this is the young woman’s attention baited to the clock set on the very corner of the holographic screen; a small his escapes her teeth when seeing the time just strike 11:30. God, wasted way too much time back in the clinic and the store. Only have around 6 hours left to climb to the top of this city and make it to K-labs. Those tours might just be the only way to squeeze inside and look for Arthur. When aware of how much time she has left, Clara swiftly jumps off from the steel bench and takes off further through the streets; taking the closest way that lead further up New Toronto.

Venturing another several dozens of feet further up the city of hovering buildings and twisting roads, the young woman takes a little rest stop from around the edge of a small pond; able to see the countless fish swimming through the waters that float in the air like jelly. Glancing below the hovering sack of water can she take a glimpse down to the rest of the city below; even from how far she has climbed, the scientist could still recognize the very base of the city she started her ascent from. Gauging how far she climbed, Clara gazes up towards the rest of the rising metropolis to compare how much she has yet to travel; her eyes failing to make out even the storming clouds that brush past the towering buildings up ahead. Discovering how little she has scaled compared to the rest of the city causes a responding worry to creep in from the back of her head, reminded once more of the tall nightmare of New Hamilton’s towering heights; still remembering the countless hours spent simply journeying up through the oversized tree on foot. And all that’s not even taking to account all the bullshit literal paywalls that stumped her along the way. Though its doubtful that this city would try something so extortionist, the free clinic and the massively grown food going for such low prices already proving the contrary. New Toronto’s been pretty generous up to this point. Suppose the town being the epicenter of the most advance scientific research facility in this current time might have something to do with that fact. Either way, there has to be a faster way up to the top.

While keeping her eyes glued to the rest of the city that awaits above, Clara catches something swim through the very air and around the dozens of hovering structures and streets like a graceful sea serpent; witnessing brief glimpses of people that sit within the slithering locomotive through its windows. From where she stands, the scientist watches as the flying train starts to swiftly ascend further up through the rest of New Toronto; soon to see it vanish within the storming clouds above. Guessing that’s the future of public transportation right there; a pretty interesting take on the matter; looks like it could save a ton of time and can save your legs from collapsing under there own weight. It flew up from below, didn’t it? Meaning that the station it belongs to must be back down somewhere. Just gotta wait for the next one to come, get on board and be whisked further downtown...or more uptown in this case. But how to find it in time to catch the next train?

Digging through the depths of her backpack, Clara pulls out the little holophone that she had recently pilfered; pressing the button to open up the cube and transform it to present the devices home screen. Browsing through the numerous apps shown before her, the scientist glazes through the icons and names of the various applications shown on the home screen; swiping up to show the rest of the tools installed on the device. They have to have a map app install here somewhere; phones back in the old days had them installed by default. And soon enough, the curiously searching lass eventually discovers an icon among the countless others that is simply labeled as “3D Map”; swiftly tapping her finger on the application and cause the screen to flash a bright luminescence. While shielding her eyes from the painfully strong glow, Clara peeks out from between her fingers to witness the light shining out beginning to take shape before her; witnessing the brilliant glow take the form of the very pond she stands near.

At last does the light mold itself together into a clear and crisp 3D image of the pond and its surroundings; a glowing dot pulsing from where she stands in the picture. Gazing upon the holographic model of her very surroundings, the young woman finds an icon of a microphone perched atop them all; Clara gliding her finger to the very top of the map and pressing the icon. Right when the tip of her finger taps the microphone, a gentle voice sounds out from the phone that asks the scientist: “Where would you like to go?” “Uh...show the directions to the nearest train station.” Upon the young woman’s request, the 3D map for the pond starts to expand further out to show the rest of the city block out further beyond; a bright line of contrasting color tracing out from the glowing dot that indicates where she stands. Watching the line crawl down through the city, Clara sees it finally stop right at a triangular building with a logo of a bullet train floating at the top; the holo phone then informing her that: “Path to train station traced. Estimated walking time: 30 minutes.” With a path to the train station set, the scientist wastes not another moment and sprints off in the suggested direction as fast as her legs could run; keeping her hood held up as she traces herself back through the winding streets she had came from.

After taking the time to trace herself through the path that the holo map had instructed her to take, the hooded scientist finds herself facing a massively triangular building; the pouring rain sliding right off the clean and sleek sides of the station. From the angular sides of the building, the very same sort of trains she had seen swim through the air come slithering out of the stations intangible sides; all of them splitting off towards different directions of the hovering city. Marching straight through the entrance doors, Clara finds the inside of the station to host a bevy of people set in lines that stretch across the lobby; the lines ending right at several automated ticket booth with each presenting their own price per ticket. The scientist is taken aback by the cheapest boarding ticket price she could find, discovering the least she would have to pay being around $15; a price that she can nowhere near pay for with what little she has. But getting on one of these trains could be the only hope of getting to K-Labs before their tours close down. Ain’t no way in hell that this woman is even gonna try racing it all the way up to the very top, not after having to climb all the way up that damn city in a tree. Still feeling some numbing pain from that hike up. Maybe try and hitch a ride from the outside?...Eh, no. Probably wind up being flung straight into a wall. Its then that she manages to find a couple of booths boasting free public rides to various locations; each of them given a specific number aside where they lead to. Well, guess its kind of a relief that they’re kind enough to give out free rides. But which one of these tram is set towards the top of the city?

While wondering of such, the young woman notices somebody passing right by her and turns back to them; tapping their shoulder and grabbing their attention with: “Excuse me. Mind if I ask ya something?” The person she had caught the attention of turns to face the scientist; an elderly man looking upon her with his withered eyes who responds to her request with: “Yes, young lady?” “I was just wondering which of these free trains lead the furthest up the city?” “Ha ha ha. Planning on taking that tour through K-labs?” “Yep, hoping to make it in time before their doors close.” “I thought as much. I remember my first school trip through those laboratories. Seeing all those revolutionary gizmo’s and gadgets in the making brought me so much joy and wonderment; I’d spend countless nights awake wondering how they’d change our world. One that I saw and eventually got implanted was the synthetic spines that fix every part of your skeleton. I haven’t felt this spry in years.” A fact that the old man is more than happy to demonstrate as he starts to merrily dance about before the scientist; something that comes to a short end when the young woman claims that: “Okay, okay. I get it. I get it. I just need to get to K-labs before they close. You know the fastest train there.” “Right...I’d usually take the 7th free tram to get up to the top of New Toronto. But you better hurry, it leaves the station in about 5 minutes.” “What!? Do you know where it is!?” the young woman frantically asks. “Just go through the curving walkway set to the left of the entrance that leads down and you’ll end up in the bottom level. Keep going through the under lobby until you see the train with the seven on it.” As soon as she receives these directions, Clara takes off back towards the front doors she came in from; shouting to the elder with: “Thanks for the help.” “He he he. Ah the haste in such youth. Perhaps they’ll find a way to harness that next.”

Going off by the directions the old man had kindly given her, the scientist weaves herself around the countless station goers to sprints back to the very doors she had entered from; immediately taking a sharp left when at the doorway and runs straight outward curving path. Its in continuing through the outwardly curving hall that she manages to come straight underneath the entrance lobby; almost quite literally mirroring its right side up counter part entirely. Taking off into the very fray of the lobby, Clara finds the crowd she squeezes herself through to be a tad thicker than those above; the people that she brushes past all sporting clothing ranging from decent to almost ragged. Guess not much has changed when it comes to the kind of people that take public transport, hasn’t it?

Gazing up overhead, the scientist could see holographic numbers hovering over the crowd; each of them hanging over the entrance of a smooth and metallic open cockpit. As she hurries further down through the upside down lobby, Clara keeps her eyes aimed high as she finds each of the numbered holo signs to count ever further up. 3...4...5...6...7! There! Spotting the number seven above, the young woman shoves herself deeper through the crowd of bustling station goers; starting to notice her hood failing to hold up as she forces her way through. Reaching her hand to the back of her head, Clara catches her hood before it could flop off her and expose herself to the crowd; soon finding the open hatch of the seventh tram. With one final push through does the scientist squeeze herself through the dogged crowd; falling and flopping right onto the cockpit floor when she finally frees herself from the thick of them all.

Picking herself off the trams slightly dirt ridden floor, the scientist gaze wanders around the inside to discover a whole bevy of people that lounge within; some sitting on seat planted on the floor while others rest on ones fitted on the ceiling. Well, guess this really shouldn’t be much of a shock. Public transportation has always been rather disorganized and crowded; its easy to imagine it being more so on the last day of K-labs tours. Just as she ponders on how stuffed the train is, the young woman soon feels herself being forced further inside by an unexpected crowd of people that race right on inside; the rushing mob slamming the scientist against the cockpit wall while feeling herself being squeezed in. Once all the chaos starts dying down, Clara pushes herself off the trains wall and takes another look around; disappointed to see most of the tram car even more stuffed than before; nearly all of the seat she had her eyes on now taken by some of the newcomers. Dammit! Missed getting a place to sit. Already hoped that sitting down would ease the nausea; if the chips suddenly come up now, it could wind up getting her busted. Just gotta find someplace to relax and take it easy.

Soon enough does the futuristic public tram finally start to leave the station, the doors leading out solidifying into a hard metallic wall. Feeling the tram she rides taking off, Clara begins to ease herself down onto the car’s flooring and crosses her legs while leaning against the wall; taking in a deep calming breath to ease her upset stomach. After feeling her tummy start to calm down, Clara decides to fancy a glance on what the outside looks like; peeking out from one of the windows she could reliably see from where she sits to behold the train she rides in slithering around the countless hovering homes and buildings floating through the city in its climb up. Its...kinda slow for a levitating train from the future. Kind’ve expected it to go at least a teeny bit faster with how fast the one that took off near the grocery. Wonder why it’s this slow? Could it be because of how packed it is? In the middle of thinking this, she winds up catching another train zooming through the scene; winding its way around the streets and structures like a fast swimming sea serpent. Well...guess that shit’s to be expected when taking the free to ride tram. Guess it’ll be a while before this puppy reaches its destination. Might as well pass the time by doing a bit of research.

Pulling out the small cube she had pilfered, the scientist presses the button on its side and opens the holo phone right up; scrolling through the main menu’s countless applications while attempting to make sense of its icons. This thing had a map feature, it’s gotta have a browser installed. Tapping her finger on one of the apps causes the entire screen to go pure white, the white space soon filling with dozens of pictures stored within and organized like a photo album. The scientist finds inside the album photo’s of the holo phones true owner, the middle aged mother sharing moments of happiness and joy with her children and spouse; all of them with big loving smiles on their faces. Upon witnessing all these pictures of the happy family, bits of guilt start to bubble their way up to the surface; Clara swiftly presses the home button to cast the album aside before any more grief could weigh her down. Returning right to the main menu, the young woman takes her chance with another app and taps an icon of a group of people; this time bring up an entire list of names along with the options to call them. Seems rather standard at first glance, but what quickly begins to perplex the scientist the most is what kind of custom name all these contacts go by. Big lenny Jenny, the boo bros, Shawn derbeberberby, The big brother from down under, My big man with his big pan, the little sis from Mississauga; the doctor that gets under my skin without my consen- What the hell is all this!? How does this woman even keep track of who’s who. Some of these just don’t make any sense…Ah, just-just leave it. Got more important stuff to do.

Brushing aside the strange list of contacts, Clara taps her finger on one more application icon to cause the entire screen to turn white; a smile cracking between her cheeks as she’s finally presented with the phone’s web browser. Finally, we’re getting somewhere. When at last presented with the phone’s search engine, the scientist taps the bar to cause a virtual keyboard to appear on screen; soon typing out for the summery of the 40 year long war between the U.S and Canada. Requesting for this subject does the page before her fill with countless search results relating to the war; Clara coming upon a dozens of articles and pages on the subject. If there’s any hope in stopping this whole disaster from going down, we’ll need to dig deeper into the details; see what sort of events led to everything going to hell and change their outcome. Hopefully, it’ll undo what Arthur might have changed to have all this happen. In her little search through the search results, the researching scientist’s eyes lock to one of them that’s labeled as “What pulled the trigger? A deeper look in how the whole war started.”. Perfect.

As soon as the young woman taps the tip of her finger onto the title, pages upon pages of information and pictures of the U.S and Canadian war fill the holo phones screen; with advertisements planted along the sides to host unrelated products and sites. Digging through her pack, the hungry young woman pulls out the bag of cheese puffs she munched on the way here; shoving some of the rest as she gazes through the web page. Scrolling through what information she already had discovered beforehand, Clara starts to read through the article a quarter of the way in; her eyes scanning through the article carefully as she reads what it has to tell.

“While the tension between the neighboring countries were still rising, the US government was beginning to worry about its economic structure after a world wide plague had shortly passed; the resulting quarantine leaving the economy in one of its worst spots since the great depression. Desperate for a short term solution, Governor Gerald Mangely opted to use whatever Canadian immigrants that the Immigration's and Customs enforcement had rounded up during the stand off and gave them low wage jobs under the guise of work visa’s; hoping to pump some fresh blood into their dying economy. In this desperate move, the U.S government refused to inform its citizens of this ongoing effort to avoid being scrutinized by its people for numerous reasons; namely the fact that those at the top were forcing jobs upon the abducted Canadians that U.S citizens could work for. Though this charade held on for-”

Before the curious scientist could read up any further on the whole matter, the holo phone she reads all this on begins to ring out an old country song; a notification showing who exactly calling to be named as “My man with his big pan.”. Yeah, screw that. Tapping for the phone to drop the unusual contact’s call, Clara returns to the article she was read on; picking up where she was cut off on:

“Though this charade held on for several years; it would eventually be exposed when one of the Canadians escaped and attempted to tell the press; a couple of which would not take his case on the bases of their political stances and the companies they were sponsored with. Once the truth did make it to the public, many American’s were outraged about this development for a number of reasons; ranging from people taking their jobs to outright forcing labor on abducted people. Despite these outcries, the one who pulled the strings failed to face judgment; Gerald Mangely disappearing from the country with the aid of his party to clear any sort of scrutiny against him. Not finding the man responsible for these treacherous crimes, the Canadian government-”

Again is the young woman sudden jolted out of her deep focus from the holo phones incessant ringing; the same contact that had interrupted her before attempting to reach through. Dammit! Can’t this guy take a hint? Pushing the calling contact away once again, Clara delves back into the depths of the article concerning the war.

“Not finding the man responsible for these treacherous crime, the Canadian government grew upset that their citizens were being used in cheap end jobs to try and mend the U.S economy without so much as running it through them. When demanding that their people be free to come back, the U.S refused under the guise that their economy was beginning to heal from the plague. With their neighbors refusing to hand its citizens back, the Canadian government dispatched agents to sneak into the country to retrieve them; a strategy that the U.S was none the wiser of until a few years later. With this news reaching the American government, they rallied the people and proclaimed this to be an-”

Once more is the researching young lady caught off from studying the article presented to her by a focus breaking notification; the holo phone this time letting out a delightful little ding as a text message appears above that reads out: “How can I stuff your tight little vagan with my big fat pan this weekend?” Clara fails to process even a single thought beyond her mixed glare of utter confusion and horrid disgust; the young woman responding to the innuendo with: “How about you kindly fuck off.” After sending the text back, the scientist swiftly pulls up the list of contacts and holds her finger down on the guy that’s pestering her; a number of options popping up that include either texting, calling, or blocking. After swiftly blocking the bastard from further contacting her, Clara quickly jumps back into reading through page of history; hoping to remain uninterrupted as she continues from:

With this news reaching the American government, they rallied the people together and proclaimed this to be an act of invasion on the Canadian’s part; using carefully constructed propaganda to cement this false fact. This rallying against the maple leaved nation caused the tension between the two nations to further escalate; the final straw that would spiral the two into a full blow war being the destruction of Toronto city. One 5th of May in 2048, the missile’s stowed away in the U.S weapons storage in New Mexico were prematurely launched without authorization; the warhead flying through the skies of the U.S and straight into the heart of Canada; reducing the entire city and its people to a burnt scar. With over 30 million people left killed in the misfire, the Canadian government had enough of the U.S scruples and retaliated against the neighboring nation almost immediately; therefore kicking off one of the most brutal wars in the worlds history.

Well damn, guess having your country go through all that would put anyone on edge. Still, its doubtful that everything in this article could be completely accurate; the likely hood of Arthur possibly tampering with these events to make them go the way they did a possibility. The way this Gerald Mangely guy just kinda vanished after setting all this in motion seems rather suspicious; kinda would be the perfect alias to pop in as an official and pop out before anyone could question who you’d could possibly be. But still, why go through all that effort to cause this whole disaster? Why alter the course of time to destroy numerous lives. It isn’t like he knew that it would lead to such a boost in scientific progress. And even if he did, was getting billions of people killed in the process really worth it? Wonder what this worlds internet has on Gerald Mangely?

Before the young scientist could research any further on the important matter, she feels the train that she sits in come to an abrupt halt; the unexpected stop causing her to fall straight onto the cockpit floor. As she pulls herself off the slightly filthy tram floor, Clara glances up to witness the all the passengers within the cabin start to pour out the open doorway; the young woman rising from the floor so she doesn’t get stepped on and proceeds out herself. Guess the rides reach the end of the station. Wonder how high the train went?

Racing right through the station doors, the very first thing that young woman notices be the lack of rain that once poured down upon the city; her gaze drifting upwards to see the afternoon sun shining high along the cloudless blue sky. Did the storm pass already? Dropping those same eyes downwards reveals to her how the very streets she stands upon had ascended past the very clouds themselves; the raging storm of fluffy clouds brushing past the steel surface of the floating buildings. Returning her site towards the skies above, Clara finds the rest of New Toronto towering further overhead; discovering countless more twisted and warped structures and homes all coiled and entwined with one another. Hovering at the very center above them all, the scientist could witness one singular facility that towers over them all; its cylinder walls rising past the very stratosphere and even further up towards the stars themselves. Planted along the face of the cylinder tower be a single holographic sign that tells of the facility that towers above the others. “K-Labs” Such a majestic site robs the young girl of any words she could even ponder, left in amazed awe of the seemingly impossible architecture that she stands upon being the very mark of human kind’s scientific progression. Her awing wonderment is suddenly broken then and there when that same holographic sign transforms to show the time of day; Clara finding the clock to read: “3:45” Oh god, how long did that train ride take!? It’s nearly an hour before K-labs tours close for another year. Their ain’t no way this scientist can stay here and evade capture for a whole ‘nother year. Knowing what time she has left, Clara darts away towards the direction where K-Labs stands tall among the countless other buildings; the faint sound of a siren beginning to come into earshot.

When traveling upwards through a looping sidewalk, the scientist’s ears begin to here the siren blaring out in the distance; turning back to witness the flashing red and white alarms of a mountie cruiser heading her way. As soon as her own two eyes spot the oncoming police vehicle, her brisk walk suddenly transforms into a frantic sprint down the twisted and looping walkway; soon taking a sharp right from behind a hovering hotel ahead. From behind the floating hotel, Clara races further through the sidewalk as fast as her legs could carry her; swerving through every street goer stood in her way and taking every single corner she could in hopes of outrunning the heat. When coming to a couple of walkways that seem to nearly cross one another, the racing young woman takes a risk and leaps for the neighboring streets from across the way; taking aback almost everyone that happen to witness her stunt. All of them witness the hooded woman successfully land right into the next sidewalk and sprint off as soon as her feet touch the concrete; all that had beheld her murmuring to one other, there voice starting to be drowned out by the approaching siren.

Continuing her race away from the cops pursuing her, Clara gazes ahead to find an assortment of statues and art pieces that all hover overhead; each the strange abstract statues floating a little way up to the other until coming close to a walkway that spirals around an oval shaped building. And against a holo signs request to not touch the art pieces, the hurrying scientist jumps right towards the first bizarrely shaped statue and hangs on by its awkwardly sculpted top. Once pulling herself right up onto its surface, the young woman gazes overhead to find the nearest piece of art to be a melted circle with a stone infant in the middle; the scientist almost immediately leaping out towards the odd art pieces up above. Hooking her arms along the bottom of the circle, Clara pulls herself up onto the very top of the melted piece of art; clawing on whatever surface of the slick circle she could hold onto as she rises.

After climbing to the top of the circular art piece, the scientist gazes up once more to find only one more piece of art close to the walkway that awaits above; a tad nervous to find it being a metal serpent with dozens of pricks and spikes decorating its surface. Taking the moment to prep herself, the young woman springs out towards the prickly golden snake overhead; her entire body tensing as she closes in to the spiky surface of the serpent. Once close to the prickly shimmering snake, Clara grabs hold of its spikes with both hands and holds on tight; letting out a relieved sigh as she manages to keep herself from being impaled upon the golden spikes sharp tips. That same breath is seeped right back in when her ears catch the sound of the mountie siren closing in; glancing back to witness the police cruiser in the distance speeding her way. The site of the approaching cruiser is more than enough to get the young woman to start climbing up the spiky shinning snake, careful to grasp only the edges of the spikes and not their razor sharp tips; Clara shaking her hand when accidentally pricking herself on one of the tips. “Ah.”

After the sharp pain in her palm swiftly subsides, Clara continue to climb the rest of the way up the long golden serpent; soon pulling herself up to the very head of the bejeweled eyed snake itself. Standing upon the very top of the golden serpent statue, the scientist peers further up to find an upside down street awaiting above; Clara wasting not another moment to spring up right for the walkway. The hooded woman’s center of gravity shifts out towards the awaiting streets ahead; the expected shift causing her to plummet up to the walkway and land right on her backside. Recovering from her less than graceful landing, Clara pulls herself off the sidewalk pavement to rises on her own two feet; her eyes wandering back up to the art pieces she had just climbed to find the police cruiser starting to catch up. Seeing the mountie coming her way makes the hooded girl hoof it further up the streets as fast as she could, keeping a grasp on her hood as she races along the curved and twisted walkways.

While the young lady continues to sprints through the midair streets, the sirens of the cruisers only seem to grow gradually no matter how far she races. Dammit. Can’t shake these guys. Gotta hide somewhere. Clara’s eyes dart around in hopes of finding somewhere to lay low for a moment, glazing through the countless floating structures that make up her surroundings; the scientist’s eyes locked to a relatively small building set along the very edge of the city limits. With the small office in her sites, the desperate young woman lunges straight towards the facility as the sirens start to grown louder; swiftly racing on the path around and pouncing right to the very back of the building. Putting her back behind the humble office, the young scientist peeks out from the corner she had just delved behind and looks to the streets she had raced through. She watches silently as the police car that had been in hot pursuit of her drive off down the hovering roads ahead.

With the heat finally starting to leave her alone, Clara exhales a trembling breath while slumping against the back of the office; sliding against the wall until she sits herself down onto the hard concrete. While basking in this fleeting moment of reprise, she delves into her back to pull out the holo phone that she had pilfered back in the grocery; glazing onto to the cubes sleek surface reflecting the beating sunlight. Figured that a device this advance would have a tracking device implanted in it. Still, never would have guessed that the police would come to track it down so quick. There ain’t any other choice, best thing that can be done right now is to get rid of this thing; it would at least throw the cops off her trail just long enough to reach K-labs.

These thoughts flowing through her mind, the young scientist glares out to the site of the open sky ahead of her; tightly grasping the cube resting in the palm of her hand. Facing the seemingly bottomless drop before her, Clara raises the closed holo phone up as high as her arm could go; ready to toss the high tech device down into the clouds that await below. Moment before she could throw the device down towards the sea of storm clouds below, the cube lets out a little ding to alert of a new notification. With her curiosity getting the better of her, the hooded woman lowers the cube down to her face and presses the button to make it unfold; the screen soon turning on to show the message it had received. “Are you and dad alright, mom. If there’s something you wanna talk about; you can talk to me about it. I love you.” Her eyes start to drift down upon beholding such a sweet and concerning text, the fact it was sent by one of the mother’s own children filling the scientist with a rather benign feeling. This device could be the only thing that this mother has to hold all her pictures. The kindly message drawing out the sympathy within her heart, the young woman folds the holophone back into a cube and gently lays the device down against the back of the office building; leaving the high tech holo phone behind as she waltzes off to the rest of the streets awaiting above.

Continuing her seemingly endless trek to the towering laboratory that awaits above, the hooded scientist soon feels the chilling cold that the passing winds inflict upon her; Clara shivering from the freezing gale while crossing her arms. Good god, the winds here are practically freezing this high up! Wager its close to around 4 degree Celsius up here. Pretty sure this is the temperature they use to keep ice cream cold. Sorta wish there was a word of warning before exiting the train. Not really sure how much further K-labs is from here. Please let it have central heating. Despite being garbed in such lightweight clothing, the scientist braves the passing gales that blow through her figure while marching closer to the top; her hood stretching against the breeze as she holds it in place.

Fighting through the bellowing winds that pass through New Toronto’s crown, it isn’t long before the young woman finally reaches the very top of the futuristic city; huffing it up an incline to soon find the final destination of her journey standing before her. Towering past the very stratosphere be the very heart of the great white north’s scientific endeavors, Clara gazing upon its majesty as she starts to walk towards its very base.

K-Labs incorporated. Every step, every fight, every sacrifice that had been taken from the middle of the war torn United states has lead to this very moment. The moment of truth. Either I die here, or live long enough to change the very world itself. …

Coming to the facility’s front doorway, the scientist takes what could be her final moment of rest to breath the chilling air; slowly exhaling out to relax whatever weary feels that dwell deep within her. Ready to face the very tower head on, Clara finally marches ahead with a determined glint in her eyes; phasing through the entrances intangible doorway until every part of her body is swallowed through.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Here we are, the 1/3rd of the series finale. We're in the endgame now people.

#lillaxtrigger #faded land

1 note · View note

evoldir · 3 years ago

Text

Fwd: Graduate position: Sanofi_Toronto.ComputationalBiology

Begin forwarded message: > From: [email protected] > Subject: Graduate position: Sanofi_Toronto.ComputationalBiology > Date: 10 May 2022 at 07:26:30 BST > To: [email protected] > > > > > Sanofi, one of the biggest and most successful pharma companies is > making a strategic investment in machine learning for drug discovery. I > recently joined Sanofi after almost 20 years as a Professor in the > School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University to lead a > large team focused on using and developing advanced ML and AI methods > for all stages of drug and vaccine discovery. We are now recruiting for > several ML focused positions. We have projects spanning the range of > activities related R&D including the use of active learning to design > automated experiments and molecules, the use of deep learning to analyze > and model single cell and spatial transcriptomics and proteomics data > and the analysis, modeling and integration of clinical and real world > data using NLP and graphical models. > > We are building a new global ML / AI hub in Toronto. There you would be > working with leading computational and experimental scientists to develop > new cures and vaccines for the some of the most challenging diseases. We > are building and using advanced computing and cloud platforms. Come > join us to develop the next generation of computational methods and to > make a difference by improving people lives and health. Please apply at: > https://ift.tt/tv4JaHp > > Ziv Bar-Joseph Head, R&D Data and Computational Sciences > > "Bar-Joseph, Ziv /US" > via IFTTT

0 notes

nuadox · 3 years ago

Text

Accenture HealthTech Innovation Challenge: Meet the 8 finalists

- By Nuadox Crew -

Global professional services firm Accenture today has named eight companies as finalists in the Accenture HealthTech Innovation Challenge, which “brings together leading-edge startups with prominent health companies to tackle some of North America’s greatest health challenges.”

+ Angle Health. Located in Salt Lake City, UT, Angle Health is a full-stack, AI-enabled health plan delivering comprehensive healthcare benefits tailored to small and medium-sized businesses. By replacing legacy systems with modern infrastructure, Angle is able to streamline and centralize operations to create an uncomplicated experience across employers, brokers, members, and healthcare providers. Its fully digital platform delivers an employer and member experience that centers around ease of use, personalization, and more equitable access to care.

+ Axle Health. Based in Los Angeles, CA, Axle Health enables any healthcare company to offer in-home visits to their patients. Axle provides the software platform, operational management, and network of healthcare professionals - an infrastructure layer - to handle in-home care, giving telehealth, payors, and clinical trials physical access to patients without the real estate footprint.

+ Donisi Health. Located in Tel Aviv, Israel, Donisi changes the lives of seniors and those with chronic cardiopulmonary diseases, freeing them to focus on living life to the fullest. The contact-free in-home multiparameter health sensing system provides measurement and trend analysis information for key health indicators to notify patients when measurements deviate from personalized norms. FDA cleared and backed by 26 granted patents, Donisi’s system consists of a table-top device, health cloud, mobile app, and patient dashboard.

+ Ellipsis Health. Through the unique power of voice, Ellipsis Health, based in San Francisco, CA, helps people understand their emotional health. By using the words people say and how they say them, the company has pioneered an artificial intelligence-powered, speech-based vital sign to identify, quantify and manage depression, and anxiety symptoms at scale. Its integrated behavioral health solution aids time-strapped healthcare providers (frontline workers, PCPs, case managers, nurses, etc.) and payers to reliably identify and stratify patient populations - facilitating scalable behavioral health screening and longitudinal monitoring of symptoms and treatment efficacy.

+ Ōmcare. Ōmcare is a digital health company pioneering an open access, home health platform that allows healthcare organizations to extend care into the home via a secure telehealth infrastructure and integration with their patented medication dispensing technology. Based in Burnsville, MN, Ōmcare enables remote delivery of wrap around care coordination and integration of existing virtual care and remote patient care solutions, promising real medication adherence defined as right med, right time, right person.

+ Phyxable. Phyxable is an end-to-end pain and prevention platform. With the help of telemedicine, augmented reality, and machine learning, Phyxable empowers people in pain to quickly diagnose, self-care and prevent their injuries from coming back without stepping outside of their home. Located in Toronto, CAN Phyxable is reinventing how pain should be managed.

+ SimX. SimX, located in San Francisco, CA, brings virtual and augmented reality to medical simulation training. With its completely immersive environments, SimX is used to train physicians, nurses, and other allied health professionals in a variety of medical scenarios. Furthermore, the platform allows medical teams to replace expensive mannequins with a low-cost, wireless VR headset, and an incredibly flexible virtual patient.

+ Spora Health. Spora Health is primary care for people of color. Located in Oakland, CA, the company is a practice that is designed to meet the cultural expectations of the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community. Spora Health has also created an evidence based cultural competency training called The Spora Institute which helps providers learn the skills required to provide culturally competent care.

The winner will be announced on September 28, 2021.

Source: Accenture

Read Also

Yaw Ansong Jnr speaks on technologies for sickle cell disease patients

#accenture #startups #health tech #innovation #digital health #medtech #medicine #health

0 notes

cloud-pharmacy-toronto · 2 months ago

Text

#cloud pharmacy toronto #covid testing #covid #toronto #clinic #covid 19 #canada cloud pharmacy #cloud clinic toronto #online pharmacy toronto #cloud clinic #online pharmacy #prep clinic #cloud walk in clinic toronto #otc medications #affordable medicines

0 notes

sweetsmellosuccess · 7 years ago

Text

The Best (and Worst) Films of 2017

Determining what you deem to be the “best” films of a given year – or the “worst,” for that matter – is something of a drain. First of all, what, exactly, is your criteria? Do you choose the films that made the most impact on you? The ones that months later you still remember in vivid detail? The ones that seemed the best made? Sometimes, a film you dismiss one year you eventually come to realize is actually very, very good. Other times (though more rare), a film you absolutely loathed comes around for you and you realize you made a huge mistake in your original harsh judgment. Ultimately, it has to come down to the most basic and inexcusable of fallacies: It just feels right to you, for whatever reason, and shut up, it’s my list. This obviously makes these year-end lists little more than a document of my utterly subjective whims in a given calendar year, so take any of these so-called lists, no matter how definitive they want to appear to be, with a giant salt-lick block. Withering disclaimers in place, let’s go ahead and do this.

The 20 Best Films of 2017

20. Wind River Taylor Sheridan’s directing debut – a whodunit conducted on reservation lands in frigid Wyoming, lead by a BFW hunter (Jeremy Renner) and a neophyte FBI agent (Elizabeth Olsen) -- does have some glaring weaknesses – he does seem preternaturally fond of the whole “female agent in over her head” dynamic, and there is certainly some White Guy in Native Lands stuff that might turn people off. But one thing he does get right is the landscape, in all its pitiless beauty, and a sense of just how thoroughly American society has largely turned its back to the plight of our country’s native peoples. It’s a murder mystery with more of a political kick than you might expect. Full Review

19. Logan Just when the superhero genre had about exhausted its bag of tricks, James Mangold’s more haunting vision of a Wolverine (played for the last time by Hugh Jackman) old, riddled with guilt and doubt, and loss of purpose felt like a revelation. The lion in winter, whose adamantium claws were still in effect – and to particularly bloody purpose, with the application of the hard ‘R’ rating – became a version of the character we hadn’t seen before, and one that proved to have much more emotional complexity. Full Review

18. The Meyerwitz Stories (New and Selected) I realize Noah Baumbach, with his archly literary sensibilities and dynamic wordplay between admittedly sad sack, often dislikable characters, isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. But I’ve always found his stuff riveting, and here, with a full-blown cast (including Dustin Hoffman, Adam Sandler, Emma Thompson, and Ben Stiller) and a bevy of characters whose intricate interactions yield emotionally rich scene work, he’s in fine fettle. Sandler, proving once again that he’s capable of far more than brainless, lazy fart comedies when pressed by a good director, is very strong, and Hoffman, playing an irascible, egocentric aging patriarch, is excellent. Full Review

17. Berlin Syndrome Another film I thought would do better than its limited-run-straight-to-video release might indicate, Cate Shortland’s cat-and-mouse thriller about an Aussie tourist in Berlin (Teresa Palmer) who has a brief affair with a German man (Max Riemelt) before he abducts her and keeps her locked in his apartment for months on end. The film is smart and riveting – featuring yeoman work from the two leads, and a pulse-tripping last act that welded me to my seat – and, in this unofficial Year of the Female, featured a strong-as-nails heroine standing up to the worst sort of male oppression, a perfect metaphor for 2017. Capsule Review

16. Free Fire Amongst an admittedly soul-searing line-up at the 2016 Toronto Film Festival, Ben Wheatley’s absurdly entertaining shoot-em-up struck me as exactly the kind of elixir I needed to pick myself up off the floor. With a sterling cast – including Armie Hammer, Cillian Murphy, and Oscar-winner Brie Larson – and a can’t miss bottle-episode premise – a pair of gangs during a gun-buy gone bad are forced to square off against each other in an abandoned umbrella warehouse in ‘70s-era Boston – work to make this thing pop like a series of firecrackers. I actually expected it to be a bigger hit than its more modest returns indicate, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it picks up steam after repeated viewings on cable and streaming services. Someday, it will get its due. Full Review

15. A War Quietly, Tobias Lindholm has been making tremendous films over the last decade, either working with director Tomas Vinterberg, or on his own helmed projects. This military drama stars “Game of Thrones” actor Pilou Asbek – a star in his own right in his native Denmark – as a captain of an outpost in Afghanistan forced to make a difficult, but totally understandable, decision that leads to his having to endure a court martial hearing. Asbek is absolutely masterful, and Lindholm has a way of creating difficult and complex narratives that puts his characters and his audience in a moral quandary. Full Review

14. The Salesman Every film from Iranian auteur Asghar Farhadi is a cause for celebration, and this film – an interesting meditation on repressive misogyny, Iranian social politics, and Arthur Miller – is no exception. The film utilizes Farhadi’s trademark tightly wound, concentric narrative wrapped around a central core mystery. While it’s not quite at the level of some of his best work (including A Separation, and The Past) it’s nevertheless a fascinating film further probing deeply into the human condition. Capsule Review

13. Strong Island I had the pleasure of watching Yance Ford’s deeply moving doc, about the murder of his older brother and the ways his loss devastated her once-happy family, at last spring’s True/False festival. Here’s what I wrote about it at the time: “Shot in a pastiche of styles – for most of the interviews, the camera keeps a respectful distance, but for Ford’s own confessions, he shoots almost uncomfortably close, almost daring us to look away – the somber themes are greatly enhanced by the addition of inspired poetic visuals: an angled roof against the blue of the sky, snow swirling in air against a dark night, a particularly haunting overhead shot of the grease stain on the concrete outside the garage where his brother lay down to die, which untether the film from clear narrative delineation, and send it into spiraling layers of grief and acceptance. The result is uncompromising and almost impossibly raw.” Capsule Review

12. Wonder Woman Just when we were all ready to take the DCU and chuck it into Zack Snyder’s garbage disposal, along comes Diana Prince, who revitalized the entire comic book genre, and breathed new life into what had been Warner Bros. desultory foray into comic book universes (a life almost immediately put back on life support after the disastrous Justice League debacle this past fall, but I digress). Gal Gadot’s star turn as the heroine of the summer could not have come at a more precipitous time, given the political wave of female empowerment, and Patty Jenkins’ film was thrilling and ground-breaking. DC might have only given us one winning film this year, but it certainly was a doozy. Full Review

11. Graduation Cristian Mungiu’s narratives always challenge his protagonists in deeply disturbing ways, either by dint of the oppression they are under, or the moral quandaries he elicits. His latest film, about a well-connected Romanian doctor (Adrian Tetieni) who uses his influence to illicitly aid his stricken daughter (Maria Dragus) on the eve of her college entrance exams, is another master study of moral nuance and precise scene composition. A single, wordless shot of the doctor coming home with his wife (Lia Bugnar) sitting in the kitchen tells us everything we need to know about their marriage, which is fantastic filmmaking. Mungiu greatly helped spur the Romanian cinematic revival over the last two decades, this film continues to cement his considerable legacy. Capsule Review

10. The Unknown Girl Recently, the Dardennes Bros. have been quietly making some of the more ethically absorbing films of the last few years. In 2014’s Two Days, One Night, we got to see the plight of a depressed woman attempting to get her old job back by pleading with her co-workers; here, we follow an obsessive doctor, Jenny (Adèle Haenel), after a young woman is murdered after first trying to gain entry into her small clinic after hours. Jenny devotes most of her time and energy not to try and solve the crime, but only to discover the identity of the woman so she can notify her family. You get the impression the Dardennes – whose previous oeuvre contains many unflinching dramas – want to lay out the ways we need to respond to our fellow human beings in order to be truly happy with ourselves. It says something that their protagonists stand out so much for simply just doing the right thing. Capsule Review

9. Personal Shopper Kristen Stewart has become far more than a starlet; she’s a bloody force of nature. Working again with Olivier Assayas (their previous collaboration, Clouds of Sils Maria, was also very strong), the two have made a film so filled with provocative energy, it can’t stay in one place for very long. Part ghost story; part fashion treatise; part character study; part Millennial ode, it moves in so many directions, you can’t catch your breath. Rather than feel scattershot, however, it’s anchored by Stewart and her undeniable screen presence. It will be fascinating to watch the rest of her career play out as she gets older and her muse carries her in different directions. Full Review

8. My Happy Family One of the joys of going to a festival like Sundance (and having critic friends with excellent taste) is getting to catch films you likely wouldn’t have seen under normal circumstances. Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Groß’s Georgian drama concerns a middle-aged matriarch (Ia Shugliashvili, in a fantastic performance) who suddenly decides to move out of her busy apartment where her vast extended family live, and move into her own flat where she can hear herself think. To her husband’s consternation, no matter how tightly the thumbscrews are applied, she remains resolute, which comes to make more and more sense as the drama unfurls. Currently on Netflix, I can’t recommend this one strongly enough. Capsule Review

7. I, Tonya One of the true surprises at last year’s TIFF, Craig Gillespie’s black comedy plays out the life and times of Tonya Harding with verve, wit, and absolutely brilliant performances, none more so that Allison Janey’s scene-stealing turn as Tonya’s witheringly acerbic mother. “Through a series of recreated interviews with the participants, screenwriter Steven Rogers has a grand time, breaking 4th walls, and giving glorious, epithet-spewing life to its decidedly lowbrow characters. Admirably, it also manages to make salient points as to the nature of celebrity culture, and the simple, one-dimensional character forms that American society so adores. It’s a colorful noisemaker, with a strand of barbed wire wrapped around the handle.” Capsule Review

6. Lady Bird Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut was a spiky, scintillating reverie on teen identity, and the difficulties of holding onto those things that most matter to you even as you strive to open yourself up to totally new experiences. “At its heart, too, through all of its sweetly comic undertones -- and laugh out loud bits of extemporaneous dialogue that flows through Gerwig's script like a guzzle of warm syrup -- it's an emotionally powerful evocation of the way loving parents and their children have to forge a way to learn to live apart from one another. "I want you to be the very best version of yourself you can be," her mother tells her at one point, and Lady Bird's struggle to figure out just who that might be is thoroughly captivating.” Full Review

5. The Florida Project A kind of reimagined Little Rascals, but set at an Orlando residence motel on the dirty outskirts of the strip outside Disney World, Sean Baker’s film is filled with the vitality and spark of life, even as the lives it depicts are difficult and often suffering. As far as the children of these hard-scrabble parents are concerned, the whole area is like an unsupervised playground. Featuring fantastic performances from the children – and a wondrous turn by Willem Dafoe, as the building manager – none more so than impossibly young Brooklynn Prince, the film is smart, sassy, and, at the end, extremely moving. Full Review

4. Get Out Much digital ink has already been spilled (um, generated?) in praise of Jordan Peele’s stunning directorial debut, a brilliant comedy/horror-based dissection of racial politics in this country, but here’s just a bit more: Peele’s film is so tightly constructed and carefully put together, it works equally well on multiple levels. That a film so loaded with racial politics can also be so damn entertaining is a marvel that needs to be seen multiple times before fully appreciated. Full Review

3. Phantom Thread Not that there was any serious doubt before but Paul Thomas Anderson is so fully in control of his craft he can make a riveting, emotionally wrenching film from a fussbudget dressmaker who likes his breakfast to be eerily silent. It helps when you have the luminescent efforts of a fantastic cast – lead by Daniel Day Lewis, in his reported last ever film role – but PTA is also the man who put that cast together and got such fantastic performances out of them. It’s a love story from a particularly obtuse angle – in this way, somewhat reminiscent of PTA’s earlier Punch Drunk Love – but takes such vibrant risks along the way, it’s all you can do to keep from applauding midway through. Delicate, fussy, nuanced, and absolutely gorgeous to look at (thank you, DP PTA!), with a wondrous score from Johnny Greenwood, it’s almost shockingly good. If this is indeed Day-Lewis’ last film, he’s gone out with a hell of a swansong. Full Review

2. Call Me By Your Name I have written more about this film, and the year’s best winner, over this year than I can ever remember doing before. Hence, I quote but one of my various musings thusly: “The film’s first couple of hours are perfectly entertaining, but is in its closing scenes that it goes from engaging to sublime, including a monologue from [Michael] Stuhlbarg, consoling his now-bereft son, that is truly one for the ages. The closing credits, set over a long, single-take of Elio’s face in front of the fire, will sear your soul.” Full Review

1. A Ghost Story Ladies and gentlemen, David Lowery’s powerful meditation on love, time, and the fallacy of human legacy was the only film this year that very nearly dropped me to my knees in anguish as I departed the theater. You can actually view it as having something of a happy ending, but even so, it strikes nerves deep in your cerebral cortex you never even knew existed before. “It’s a film of felt, quiet spaces, whose emotional intensity builds in small increments to become at times almost overwhelming. It goes places you don’t expect, and keeps you there, frozen stiff in your chair, as it comes full circle. It’s definitely not a film for everybody – if, for example, you require three full acts and complete character arcs, you might want to take a flyer – but for the people who can hang with it, it has an enormous amount to offer.” Full Review

Other Worthy Mentions:

47 Meters Down, A Gray State, Abundant Acreage Available, Atomic Blonde, Baby Driver, Bad Day for the Cut, Beach Rats, Beatriz at Dinner, Blame, Did You Wonder Who Shot the Gun?, Dunkirk, I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore, Jane, Killing Ground, mother!, Quest, The Cage Fighter, The Endless, The Force, The Square, Thumper

The 5 Worst Films of 2017

5. Mary Shelley “Unfortunately, working from a truly terrible script from Emma Jensen, Al Mansour’s film is at best inartful, and at worst, the kind of simplistic, every-scene-has-a-point! pabulum that would embarrass a high school English class. Each element of Frankenstein is foreshadowed (here, Mary learns about galvanism; here, she sees an article about sewing body parts together, et al.), as if all she needed to do to write the novel was to pluck them directly from the sources. Even the film’s strongest moments – where Al Mansour, the worlds first female Saudi director, gets to show 18th century male oppression at its most vile and condescending – get watered down under that lead weight of a script. Everyone deserved better.” Capsule Review

4. Hostiles “Cooper confuses macho bravado and grittiness for any kind of verisimilitude – there are a staggering number of plot holes, and character inconsistencies – including the continual presence of a pretty frontierswoman (Rosamund Pike), whose family was wiped out by a group of marauding Comanche – that only serve to move the meandering plot forward. Worse yet, the action sequences themselves are both incoherent, and oddly designed (one of the oddest choices is putting us outside a closed series of tents in one scene, such that the action sequence is totally lost on us). The male actors sport very real and copious facial hair, as to suggest the worthiness of the project, but any filmmaker that can take a pair of powerhouse actors like Bale and Ben Foster and reduce them to this level of low-wattage really needs to self-examine.” Capsule Review

3. The Promise “Worse than any of its stylistic decisions, however, is to take something as horrific and criminally under-represented as the Armenian genocide and saddle it with a hokey love story that is virtually lifeless on its own. Naturally, the timeliness of the film -- taking us back to another age where virulent nationalism ran rampant, and minority groups were targeted as the subjects of its wrath -- is all too sickeningly relevant in the age of Brexit and Steve Bannon's type of exclusionist populism, but even there, the film either falters on the side of its overbaked plot, or sticks its more relevant political points in blithely didactic lurchings. ("This whole country is a graveyard," one character says.)” Full Review

2. Aardvark “A turgid, draggy drama (mostly around the premise that Slate’s character has to be an almost impossibly bad therapist to do to her patient what she pulls off here), a pasty comedy, coddled around a fantastically unbelievable premise and its flailing execution, the film tries to play with our sense of reality, using Quinto’s recurring hallucinations, but it doesn’t even want to bother to play by its own rules. It’s hard for me to imagine those talented actors reading this script and signing off on it, but here we are.” Capsule Review

1. Kidnap “As a means of conveying information, Knate Lee's "script" calls for Karla to talk incessantly to herself in the car, narrating her dilemma ("So now what's the plan?" she asks herself at one point, quickly concluding that she hasn't got one) pretty much so former Oscar-winner Berry has something to do other than grit her teeth and bleed out the nose. She also has a penchant for broad exclamatory statements ("Wherever you go, I'll be right behind you, no matter what!" and so forth). The effect is like overhearing a young boy playing with his GI Joes.” Full Review

Other Dishonorable Entries:

Axolotl Overdrive, Baywatch, The Mummy

Random Notes:

Inexplicably Overrated: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Biggest Welcome Surprise(s): I, Tonya, Lady Bird, Logan

Most Bitter Disappointment(s): Downsizing, Mary Shelley, The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Film That Critics Got Wrong: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Film(s) I Totally Whiffed On: Coco, I Love You, Daddy

Best Upcoming Releases of 2018

1. The Rider 2. Lean on Pete 3. Happy End 4. Chappaquiddick

43 notes · View notes

movie5612 · 4 years ago

Text

Artificial intelligence technology powers award-winning clinical research

TORONTO, Ontario, CANADA: Dentists can expect to do better than ever before in catching undiagnosed or overlooked conditions and identifying pathologies, thanks to radiographic analysis available from Denti.AI, according to new clinical research disclosed by the company.

The American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology awarded its 2020 Albert G. Richards Graduate Student Research Award to a University of North Carolina Adams School of Dentistry graduate student who showed the artificial intelligence software often accurately identified pathoses missed by board-certified dental experts, Denti.AI reported.

Manal Hamdan, DDS, conducted the study, titled “Detecting Apical Radiolucencies Using Deep Learning Technology: A Pilot Study.” She concluded that Denti.AI’s technology had comparable or improved results, and the artificial intelligence tool has the potential to reduce provider fatigue and diagnostic errors. Her poster on the same research won first prize for the best scientific poster at the AAOMR annual session, according to Denti.AI.

Dr. Don Tyndall, professor of oral and maxillofacial radiology at the Adams School of Dentistry, stated, “Dr. Hamdan’s research is an excellent example of university and business collaboration utilizing experts in radiology, deep learning and statistical analysis to produce clinically relevant and potentially game changing results validating software that can elevate patient care.”

“Our team at Denti.AI is committed to being at the forefront of implementing artificial intelligence into clinical practices through rigorous academic validation and collaboration with leading academic institutions,” said Dmitry Tuzoff, founder and CEO of Denti.AI.

https://www.freitag.de/autoren/dsaasqweeqw/artificial-intelligence-technology-poweraward

https://www.thewyco.com/business/artificial-intelligence-technology-powers-award-winning-clinical-research-23-12-2020

https://www.guest-articles.com/education/artificial-intelligence-technology-powers-award-winning-clinical-research-23-12-2020

https://movie20020.hatenablog.com/entry/2020/12/24/080317

https://blog.goo.ne.jp/movies-free/e/95cc30de36a8edd3ffa7374feaa6e8de

https://movie5612.tumblr.com/post/638335984852992000/artificial-intelligence-technology-powers

http://fireblade.ru/index.php?showtopic=67972

https://www.comentr.com/t/technology/ccu2

https://www.43ft.com/43FT/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2135165

This is the second academic award the company’s product has received this year. The University of Louisville awarded first prize to a separate clinical study featuring Denti.AI’s technology, the company said.

“We are building technology to help support oral health providers by bringing clarity, standardization, quality assurance, efficiency, and trust to the dental marketplace,” said Eric Pulver, DDS, the chief dental officer of Denti.AI.

With Denti.AI’s radiograph analysis, providers will catch more pathologies and help patients better understand the need for treatment to increase both quality of care and case acceptance, according to the company. Denti.AI’s cloud-based software centralizes the clinical data into its analytics platform, which makes it easy to see business performance in relation to hard clinical data, according to the company. Plus, its patent-pending auto-charting technology incorporates the radiographs directly into the clinical workflow, which improves operational efficiency, the company said.

Thanks to the AI-powered medical imaging technology, dental practices gain profitability, speed and quality, the company said. With Denti.AI, it only takes several seconds to interpret a series of intraoral X-rays or a panoramic image and produce a complete dental chart. Based on the experience of professional radiologists who participated in the training of the algorithms, Denti.AI looks to find what the naked eye often cannot.

Denti.AI is a software company that leverages AI analysis of dental X-rays to detect key abnormalities, past dental treatments, and other relevant features to find problems earlier and improve productivity, the company said. Its cloud-based service is integrated with a range of practice management software and imaging equipment, automating the clinical workflow of dental support organizations across North America.

TA-I Technology (TPE:2478) Has Rewarded Shareholders With An Exceptional 304% Total Return On Their Investment

The worst result, after buying shares in a company (assuming no leverage), would be if you lose all the money you put in. But when you pick a company that is really flourishing, you can make more than 100%. One great example is TA-I Technology Co., Ltd. (TPE:2478) which saw its share price drive 176% higher over five years. Also pleasing for shareholders was the 17% gain in the last three months. But this move may well have been assisted by the reasonably buoyant market (up 12% in 90 days).

Check out our latest analysis for TA-I Technology

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

During five years of share price growth, TA-I Technology achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 22% per year. That makes the EPS growth particularly close to the yearly share price growth of 23%. This indicates that investor sentiment towards the company has not changed a great deal. Indeed, it would appear the share price is reacting to the EPS.

You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

TSEC:2478 Earnings Per Share Growth December 23rd 2020

It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on TA-I Technology's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. We note that for TA-I Technology the TSR over the last 5 years was 304%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

We're pleased to report that TA-I Technology shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 55% over one year. That's including the dividend. That gain is better than the annual TSR over five years, which is 32%. Therefore it seems like sentiment around the company has been positive lately. Given the share price momentum remains strong, it might be worth taking a closer look at the stock, lest you miss an opportunity. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for TA-I Technology that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on TW exchanges.

Promoted If you’re looking to trade TA-I Technology, open an account with the lowest-cost* platform trusted by professionals, Interactive Brokers. Their clients from over 200 countries and territories trade stocks, options, futures, forex, bonds and funds worldwide from a single integrated account.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. *Interactive Brokers Rated Lowest Cost Broker by StockBrokers.com Annual Online Review 2020

After finding glitch, Massachusetts suspends use of controversial camera system that lets police track cars

Massachusetts public safety officials have halted the use of a controversial license plate surveillance system after finding a glitch with the technology that caused it to record inaccurate data for more than five years, according to a memo obtained by the Globe.

The inaccuracies were found within a network of high-speed cameras installed by the Massachusetts State Police that automatically photograph the license plates of vehicles along roads across the state. The data, including location, date, and time, is compiled in a massive database — all without obtaining warrants or court orders.

The breadth of the newfound problem — and the impact it will have on an untold number of criminal cases — was not immediately clear Wednesday.

Attorneys quickly called on state officials to provide more details about past and ongoing criminal cases that may be impacted by the inaccurate data. Meanwhile, privacy advocates said the problem is a prime example of why lawmakers should step in to better regulate law enforcement’s use of the technology.

“Like with facial recognition and other newer forms of surveillance, there’s too many risks that something will go wrong if this is left entirely to the executive branch of the government to run secret,” said Kade Crockford director of the Technology for Liberty Program at the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. “We have to remember that these technologies are not perfect and they are never going to be perfect.”

The state’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security issued the memo Wednesday to state criminal justice agencies and defense attorneys. In it, officials said the problem was discovered on Nov. 12 by State Police officials who were reviewing data collected by the automated license plate readers, or ALPRs.

The memo noted that the problem only affected cameras mounted in fixed locations, and did not affect plate-reader cameras installed on police cruisers. The problem also did not affect a separate network of cameras mounted above some toll roads.

State officials declined to directly answer questions or provide more details. Officials in Governor Charlie Baker’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement, State Police spokesman David Procopio said: “The Department will continue to assist in verifying date and times stamps using additional retained data while working with the vendor on potential solutions.”

The camera vendor, Neology Inc., did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

The memo said use of the cameras was suspended shortly after the problem was found last month and “will not be utilized until further notice.”

Officials found that the date and time stamps on some photographs captured by the system dating back to May 2015 were wrong, according to the memo. The glitch occurred if a camera had lost power, then regained power and started snapping pictures before it had reconnected to servers that update the camera’s date and time settings.

The memo warned that dates and times for photographs captured in the last 5 ½ years “should not be relied upon in the absence of information supporting the accuracy of that date and time, such as upload date and time information recorded by the host server or other corroborative evidence.”

The memo said state officials may be able to verify the accuracy of some of the data by cross-referencing data with information uploaded to the state’s data servers. But that data is only available dating back to November 2019.

Plate reader technology has proliferated across the country in recent years.

In 2015, state officials in response to a request from the ACLU estimated there were 170 fixed and mobile plate reader cameras in use around the state. More recently, officials have refused to disclose the total number of cameras in the state and their locations, but did tell the Globe in July that State Police alone owns or has access to 67 fixed and mobile plate readers.

Authorities have said plate readers allow them to track either the historical or real-time movements of violent suspects or drug traffickers, for example, or to find missing and abducted people.

Meanwhile, civil liberties advocates and some lawmakers have raised privacy concerns and questions about the constitutionality of police using the technology. They’ve also expressed concern over the technology’s use by private companies, including car repossession firms and parking lot operators, and the practice of other businesses, such as banks, insurers, and private investigators, buying data from brokers.

But the technology remains unregulated in many states, including Massachusetts.

The matter was recently challenged before the state’s Supreme Judicial Court in a case in which police received alerts any time an alleged drug dealer drove over the Bourne or Sagamore bridges.

The SJC ruled in April that use of the technology does not violate privacy protections — under limited circumstances. But the court cautioned that it might elevate privacy issues in future cases if law enforcement agencies start using information collected by plate readers without proper justification.

Paul Bogosian, the defense attorney who brought that case to the SJC, said the latest revelation has serious implications not only for his client, whose case is still proceeding to trial in Barnstable Superior Court, but also for an untold number of other defendants who face charges based on investigations that involved plate reader data.

“How many times have these camera images been relied upon to prosecute a person?” Bogosian said.

Bogosian said the memo raises a host of questions, including how frequently the cameras lost power over the years and captured inaccurate time stamps as a result. He also wondered how the problem went undetected for years.

“How is it that they missed this? It’s a little hard to believe,” he added. “I don’t think this memo is telling us everything. There’s got to be something deeper.”

0 notes