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free-lims · 2 years

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How to Assure 100% Operational Efficiency When Managing a Remote Clinical Lab

Nobody anticipated that the COVID-19 pandemic would result in a fundamental shift toward the remote working environment. Even clinical laboratories are switching to remote or hybrid work employment as the “new normal”. However, a clinical lab must implement a detailed work plan when operating in a remote setting. The laboratory must maintain its level of output and efficiency under challenging conditions so that personnel can work in remote places without any disturbances.

Several measures will help any clinical lab working in a remote setting to operate efficiently. Let’s venture more into it.

1. Working Efficiently from Geographically Dispersed Locations

When working remotely, laboratories can streamline their operations and reduce operational costs through:

Creation of centralized teams to review data efficiently

Utilization of agile resource models to recruit remote workers that can bring their experience to enhance productivity

Elimination of the need to acquire a large physical space, thereby reducing expenses

Provision of compliance and financial assistance

2. Conducting Field Work through a Remote Access LIMS

If your lab has a remote access LIMS that can be accessed using any Internet-ready device, conducting fieldwork, such as collecting samples and generating barcodes for tracking samples, can be easily accomplished. Moreover, staff working remotely for any clinical lab can capture patient data and transmit all data through a remote access LIMS to the lab in real time.

3. Offering Quick Healthcare Services to Patients

Who needs the best healthcare services at a fast pace? Of course, patients! By chance, several tools allow lab workers to evaluate past data instantly and check and deliver health updates to patients with 100% accuracy online.

The clinical setting has been made extraordinary by providing devices such as glucose meters to the patients and getting immediate updates that are beneficial to improve their health conditions.

Nevertheless, several healthcare professionals do not consider remote patient monitoring by laboratories a fit in today’s time and even consider it a waste of financial resources. Some of the drawbacks of remote clinical labs in their opinion are:

Stagnant growth of the lab staff with not much learning will hamper their productivity

Internet connectivity issues in remote areas can be a cause of concern for the smooth provision of healthcare services

Challenges Lab Managers Face in Remotely Managing a Clinical Diagnostic Lab

In current times, patients are more health conscious and demand regular diagnoses and checkups. Though laboratories are working hard to bring the best health services to people, they still face challenges while working remotely. Some of the most common challenges that global diagnostic labs face are as follows:

1. Longer Turnaround Time (TAT)

When working at remote locations, sometimes, labs depend on 3rd party processing units, which delays the delivery of test reports to patients. Similarly, they may face challenges in tracking samples and TAT effectively. The practical solution for online working staff is to utilize a remote access LIMS for fast-tracking and monitoring processes and leveraging automation to deliver test results to patients via SMS, emails, or a patient portal.

2. Managing Daily Stock

Managing and controlling daily stock is challenging, which can create trouble for lab staff. The best solution is to deploy a LIMS or inventory management software for managing stock and sending alerts when the count of inventory items falls below a specified threshold limit. It can be done from anywhere by the lab workers and will help in efficiently managing lab inventory.

3. Handling Samples in an Appropriate Way

The vital aspects of lab operations are sample tracking and handling, which remote working teams struggle to manage. If left in the lurch, it may severely impact service quality and may result in loss of samples. The way forward is to use barcoded samples and connect them with your lab software.

4. Data Confidentiality & Sharing

Remote lab teams always have a shortage of skilled staff, which might result in the online theft of sensitive patient data and thus tarnish the reputation of the respective lab. To counter it, labs can consider providing permission-based access controls via a LIMS software solution. It will offer a secure password for each employee and ensure confidential data remains protected.

What Methods Lab Managers Should Undertake for the Smooth and Efficient Running of Remote Clinical Diagnostic Labs?

For a diagnostic lab to operate smoothly and effectively, it is vital to provide exceptional results without exceeding deadlines. So, there are some practical measures that lab managers must implement to carry out the operation in an effective way.

1. Trust the Team to Achieve Tasks Successfully

Remotely operating a lab is a tedious job. Every staff must get training to uphold best practices as per the industrial standards and conduct lab functioning efficiently. Besides, trusting them by giving autonomy will boost their morale and improve overall performance.

2. Recruit a Remote QA Lab Assistant

In a laboratory setting, quality is a must. Hiring a QA manager will ensure better quality assurance by continuously reviewing data and guiding the staff to follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

3. Aptly Track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Thanks to LIMS, it is now possible to accurately show how a lab is performing concerning its stated goals. Furthermore, working remotely necessitates establishing priorities for finding KPIs such as:

Monitoring of the environment

Identifying the lab’s requirements

Solving a specific problem

Apart from it, they will help lab managers find answers to the following questions:

What to measure that encourages and motivates the team?

How to ensure setting achievable objectives for the remote team?

Will the KPIs drive towards adopting new innovative changes?

How Does a Cloud-Based Diagnostics LIMS Serve as a Central Hub for Remotely Managing Modern Clinical Diagnostic Labs?

A cloud-based Diagnostics LIMS is valuable for clinical laboratories as it can help lab staff digitally record and track results and workflows precisely. In modern times, it has acted as a central hub by enabling staff to accomplish experiment write-ups, analyze lab data, see data patterns and offer information for regulatory dossiers with excellent efficacy.

Wrapping Up

The new reality of futuristic clinical laboratories is remote working as the younger generation yearns for more flexibility with a perfect work-life balance! So, the onus is on the clinical lab professionals to make remote working more efficient and safer. They must also incorporate cloud and networking-based digital solutions that will assist them in producing quicker, better, and higher-quality healthcare results with 100% efficiency.

Originally published at https://freelims.org.

#Remote Access LIMS #Diagnostics LIMS

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mysticalcrowntyphoon · 2 years

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Product label validation for nutraceutical supplements - Akums.in

Product label validation claims remain central to supplement manufacturing.

Table of content

An Overview

Product label validation claim

The purpose of a claim on a product label

Akums drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

An Overview

The pandemic has proven a real setback to human health and emotions. After the covid, many were emotionally shattered whereas many faced medical conditions which are beyond description. Everyone looked for a stronger immunity so that they can survive the adversity that time has given. People have realized that in a fast-paced life where quality is less, food cannot be the source of nutrients; they have started looking for supplements that may keep them healthy, immune, and strong. Earlier also people were fond of supplements but the quest for quality has increased a lot and got fanned after covid.

Food supplement manufacturers are working diligently and trying to explore the newer possibilities of formulations that may benefit mankind to the maximum. They are dedicated to working in the service of mankind so that people can lead healthy and disease-free life.

Nutraceutical products are subject to rigid scrutiny before coming to the market. They are prepared under strict jurisdiction. They have to follow different bylaws set for their production. Once shaped, they have to undergo many quality tests and checks to get validation and approvals before launching in the market. If we review the market, we will find that Product label validation claims remain central to supplement manufacturing.

Product label validation claim

The content of the label represents the official, formal, legal representation of what a product can or cannot do including side effects and potential hazards. This labeling establishes the legal boundary of what the product developers can promote or claim about its effects. It is stated in a short sentence about what the production company produces can do. This claim can be brief about benefits, experience, or the offer. It calms down the curiosity of the customers that why should they buy this product.

The purpose of a claim on a product label

Nutraceuticals have turned out to be admired as a way to help endorse health and wellness, inside and out. Supplements Manufacturers in India and abroad use these claims to define the percentage level of a dietary ingredient in a supplement and may refer to dietary ingredients. The claim is accompanied by a declaration of the quantity of the dietary ingredient per portion. These claims can be categorized in three forms:

· Health Claims represent the most common goals for a product label and marketing materials.

· Nutrient content claims represent the physical ingredients and their relative concentrations or percentages.

· Structure and Functional Claims are closely related to general health claims.

It is crucial that no matter what the trends in the market may be as a Private Label Manufacturer, they follow all of the posted guidelines in your respective jurisdiction.

Akums drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Akums Drugs and Pharmaceutical Ltd. Is a worldwide renowned Nutraceuticals contract manufacturer that has been serving this sector or industry for more than two decades. With ten state-of-the-art facilities, a Technology and innovation-driven approach, and world-class infrastructural facilities having extensive research and finding labs, it has tried to offer the best to mankind. It has served for what commitment has been made. Even the customers know what they have been served and that is the reason Akums has been considered the most reliable, trustworthy, and transparent firm in Nutraceuticals.

Key Takeaways

· Food supplement manufacturers are working diligently and trying to explore the newer possibilities of formulations that may benefit mankind to the maximum.

· Product label validation claims remain central to supplement manufacturing.

· Akums Drugs and Pharmaceutical Ltd. is worldwide renowned Nutraceuticals contract manufacturer who has been serving this sector for more than two decades and has served for what commitment has been made.

#nutraceutical #Nutraceutical Contract Manufacturing #NutritionalFoods #NutraceuticalSupplements

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ahedderick · 3 years

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Mid-term

The Mom mid-term review of my son’s uni.

He has four classes, all M-W-F, and two labs on Tuesday, for a total of 14 credit hours.

Two of the four profs have somewhat sneakily turned their 3 lectures-per-week into 2. One (a communications prof) told the kids up front that it was a hybrid class, two in person and one online - then came clean after kids spent quite a while searching for the online portion that there was none. She just wanted them to work on their projects the third day. The second, algebra, frantically squeezes three lectures into two (meaning she goes so fast the kids don’t get anything) and tells them the Friday class they get off so they can do their weekly quiz. She is covering 3 or 4 new math concepts every class for a class that students only take if they have trouble with math and didn’t get a full understanding of algebra in high school. I think this is being done under the cover of “everything is different for Covid” but it’s really just them not wanting to teach the full class.

The bio prof is is doing ok with lectures, poorly on responding to student’s concerns about the useless lab assistant/TA, and appalling on tests. Every student in my son’s section failed the first test. It was supposed to be on the five chapters they covered quickly at the start of the term, but virtually all the questions on the test were about one small unit on organic chemistry that he’d brushed by quickly in class. The students complained, and his handwaived it. Too bad, so sad. The second test the average grade for the class was 61%. He will not admit that there is anything wrong with this. There is something VERY wrong with this!

The geography prof gives interesting lectures, gets so excited by the topic that he’s yelling and waving his hands in the air (in a fun way), has a reasonable weekly workload, and tests on exactly the material he covered in lecture.

So - why is THAT guy the exception. I ought to be able to say that about ALL of them.

Conversely, when my son came home from visiting the school dinging hall the first time, he had little cartoon heart-eyes. Apparently the dining hall staff are bringing their A game. He spent a good ten minutes describing in detail all the beautiful, beautiful food. It was adorable.

Oct 28, 2021

#uni #university #college #teen #momblr #student

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benex78 · 3 years

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Forgive our Sins

5 years after the events of Immortality, Sara and Grissom are living back in Las Vegas when a ghost from their past reappears in their life forcing them to face some old decisions. GSR of course! Enjoy it! I hope you like it and please review it! (Sorry if there are mistakes but I'm not a native English speaker and a special thanks to my friend LuLu for reading it)

PART 1 They went through a lot together during their 16 years long relationship. She left him and the sin city, he went to Costa Rica for her, they got married, they got divorced, she went to San Diego and sailed with him. They hurt each other more than once, but their love never stopped. In the end, they gave up their carriers to stay together, got married again and now they were finally living happily together. Grissom and Sara are back in Vegas, living in a small house in the university district. While Sara works as a consultant for the crime lab, Gil is a part-time professor of entomology who tends to stick his nose in his wife’s forensic cases. 14 years have passed since the miniature killer events and Natalie Davis is still in prison. In her cell she keeps a collection of miniatures and she is now working on a new one. She interrupts her work on the miniature to write a letter. It’s a difficult one: she had tried to write this letter so many times without success, in fact there are a few ripped sheets of paper on the floor. This time is different, she manages to use the rights words and, once done, she sends the envelope to the Las Vegas Crime Lab. It’s addressed to Sara Sidle. What does she want from Sara? Does she want to make amends? Does she want to go after her again? PART 2 A car is parked outside Sara and Grissom's house and the driver is observing Sara. One day on her way to work, Sara notices him and tries to run away, but suddenly she’s caught in an incident. She is brought to the hospital where a frightened Grissom arrives. Fortunately, Sara is fine, she only has some bruises and she is soon allowed to leave the hospital to go home with her husband. Sara tells Grissom what happened and now they fear someone is chasing them. Thanks to the street CCTVs the police finds and arrests the stalker, however the man has nothing to do with the accident. Thus, he is released, but not after securing a conversation with Sara Sidle. He is a private detective and he needs to talk to Sara because his client, a woman named Kelly Ross, wants to meet her. Sara asks the detective the reason for this meeting and he responds that Mrs. Ross instructed him to reveal only in which part of Vegas she lives and, most importantly, that they have someone in common. Sara is caught off guard as she doesn’t know what to expect from this. However, she can’t help but feel curious. PART 3 On their day off Grissom drives Sara to Mrs. Ross, but he waits outside in the car. He is worried but he respects Sara’s decision to go in alone. When opening the door, Mrs. Ross welcomes Sara with a warm hug then she lets her in. Gil Grissom observes the whole scene speechless. When Sara comes back couple of hours later, she is in shock and immediately askes Grissom to take her home. He wants to know about the meeting, yet Sara begs him to give her some time to put her thoughts together. That evening in their kitchen Sara tells him a story she kept for herself for far too long. FLASHBACK:13 YEARS EARLIER The miniature killer had changed everything: the team had found about her relationship with Grissom, she had to join swing and above all she felt something inside her had broken and no one, not even Griss, could do anything to help her. She was so depressed that she decided to leave Vegas and the love of her life. She was in L.A. visiting her mom when she started to feel unwell. It took her a few days to even conceive the idea that she could be pregnant. She went to the nearest drugstore and paid for a test that she took directly in the customers toilet. She waited in there for almost an hour with the result in her hands: POSITIVE! How could it be? She didn’t want a child and Grissom neither. They talked about this at the beginning of their story and even more recently when he proposed. They (she and Griss) were the only family they wanted. How could she tell Grissom something like that? At least by phone she could avoid looking into his eyes and see his disappointment. She went back to her motel room and waited for the morning to come. She didn’t sleep all night, she kept looking at the clock on the wall. When she was sure Grissom could be home from work, she called him. He picked up almost immediately. She heard him giggling at the other side of the phone, but his joy faded at the news. Sara was so depressed; their relationship was stalling and surely, he wasn’t ready to be a father. Thus, they both agreed to end the pregnancy. Grissom offered to come to L.A. to be close to her, but Sara declined. She wanted to do it alone and he didn’t complain. She had just booked an appointment at a private clinic, when her mother got sick, so she had to postpone the whole thing. When she finally got there 3 weeks later, it was too late to proceed with the abortion. She had no another choice but to contact the social services to find a family for her unborn child. She never told Gilbert she carried their baby and that he was put up for adoption. To him, this was a dead story. Just 10 days before Warwick’s murder she delivered a healthy baby boy who she held only briefly in her arms before giving him away. When she came back to Vegas, Grissom was so devastated he didn’t even notice her body didn’t have the usual silhouette and she kept the secret for herself. Until now. Sara’s confession is very painful, she fears Gilbert’s reaction. She fears he will hate her and never forgive her for taking his son away. However, Grissom isn’t angry. He seems quite relieved instead. Grissom reaches his hand out across the table and places it on top of Sara’s, giving it a gentle squeeze: - I don’t begrudge you honey. In the end, you did what we had decided. At the time we didn’t want a kid and you didn’t keep it. Honestly, I’m quite happy it went this way. – Sara raises her head: - Really? – Grissom admits: - Yeah, because now, 13 years later, we are talking about someone we created, someone who has our genes and who probably is still alive. Even if he is somewhere, we don’t know where and who raised him – Sara reveals: - Gil, his name is Dylan, he is here in Vegas and Mrs. Ross is his adoptive mother – Grissom is astonished: - What? He’s in Vegas right now? Did you see him? – Sara shakes her head: - No, he was at school - Grissom: - How did Mrs. Ross find you? – Sara: - I can’t explain it, but since I had decided for an open adoption, she must have assumed a detective to find me. - Grissom: - But why now? – Sara: - Because she wants to give us a second chance – Grissom: - Sorry I don’t get it – Sara: - She is dying, she has terminal cancer and her husband has died of Covid last year. She fears that once she’s dead her boy will end up living in an institute until his 18th birthday. - Grissom’s heart starts beating fast, he can’t bear it any more. Maybe it’s his age but he wants to be a father now. However, he knows everything it’s up to his Sara: - Can we…? What do you want to do? - Sara: - Honestly… I don’t know – Grissom: - Sara, we are his parents! – Sara’s answer is firm: - No, we lost that right a long time ago Gil! – Grissom corrects himself: - You are right, but we have to do something. Don’t you want to get to know him? To see who he looks like? – Sara: - Of course I want to, but I am also terrified. I abandoned him. For all I know he could hate me. – Gil replies: - He could love you. - Sara gives Grissom a sad smile. Grissom tries to lift her spirit: - He could be a geek like us - Sara announces: - Gil, he is a special boy, he is not like the other kids – Grissom asks: -What do you mean? – Sara: - Mrs. Ross told me Dylan can’t hear, he has a genetic disease that made him almost deaf 5 years ago. Grissom is hurt, he can’t find the words to express his feelings. Sara notices his reaction and she gently touches his leg. Sara: - Are you ok? – Grissom nods: - I just don’t know how to feel about this: happy because I have something in common with my son or sad that I passed this pain to him It's all my... – Sara raises Gilbert’s chin, she cuts him off this time, shaking her head: "No, it's not. and it's not right to put the blame all on you. We both made stupid decisions in our relationship that lead us to where we are now." She takes a breath and speaks again more softly. "Now, I just want to put all of that behind us and start over..." Grissom clears his throat and asks in a more serious tone: - So... what do you think? – Sara takes both his hands in her and smiled a little: - I think we are going to speak with Kelly Ross and arrange a meeting with Dylan. Ok? – Grissom nods satisfied. Sara: - Let’s see what happens but we have to keep our hopes grounded – Grissom: - Ok… Come here – and takes Sara in his arms: - I love you, no matter what! – Sara leans towards him. She looks him in his eyes and responds with a tender kiss on his lips whispering against them "I love you too”.

PART 4 Sara spends the week working and thinking, thinking and working. Tension and expectations building up every day, more and more. In her mind Sara has imagined their meeting with Dylan at least 300 times, she has repeated all the possible things she could say to him, but every time his reaction is bad and the meeting goes wrong. Even Grissom is anxious; nonetheless he tries to distract Sara: he invites her to see one of his lessons at the university, he proposes a trip on a boat over the lake Mead and he takes her out to dinner. The Italian restaurant they go to is one of their favorites. They eat a very good lasagna and they drink a little more than they usually do, just to relax. Once at home, they go to bed. They face each other but, thinking of the day ahead, they can’t sleep. Grissom: - It’s gonna be fine – Sara: - You can’t know that – Gil caresses her hair: - No, but we have to stay positive – Sara takes Gil’s hand and brings it to her cheek: - I don’t know what to tell him – Gil’s finger brushes her lips: - The truth! If he asks, we’ll tell him the truth - Sara: - But? – Grissom: - Honey, if we want his trust, we have to be honest. We can’t lie. - Sara: - I am scared! - Grissom: - Me too – and he slowly kisses her. She returns the kiss as they are taken by the passion of their bodies, entangled in one. Their minds are lost in the rhythm of that primordial act of desire, they know so well. They are just flesh and skin, sweat and moans. PART 5 It’s afternoon and they are sitting in a park near Dylan’s school. The sight of the boy approaching them with his mother takes their breath away. Kelly greets them from afar and points them to her son. They stand up and walk in their direction. Sara and Grissom stop when they are in front of Dylan and Kelly. 4 souls, 4 people meant to be a family finally together. Dylan is a mini version of Grissom. He is not so tall but he’s slim. He has short curly brown hair. His eyes are blue and curios. Behind his left ear he has a hearing aid. Kelly addresses them to Dylan; she gestures in sign language and tells him: - They are the friends I was talking to you about. – Grissom takes courage and speaks first, gesturing his words: - Hi Dylan, my name is Gilbert and she is my wife Sara. We are happy to meet you. Your mother told us a lot about you. – Sara: - Hi, sorry but my sign language is a little rusty. I will try to improve. – Dylan: - Don’t worry, I can hear you (he indicates the implant to Sara). Moreover, I’ve learned to read lips. You, (he addresses to Grissom) on the other hand are very good. – Grissom: - Thanks. My mum was deaf, she taught me – Dylan nods pondering the answer. Sara tries to break the silence: - How was your day? Do you like school? – Kelly intervenes: - He is the best of his class – Dylan gives her a little buff on her right arm: - Mum please! – Kelly smiles: - He is shy, he doesn't like to brag – Grissom and Sara, grinning, exchange a look of complicity mixed with pride: - We can imagine – Dylan fixes them and he asks abruptly: - Why don’t you tell me who you really are? – Grissom and Sara almost choke: - What? – Kelly scolds him: - Dylan?! – Dylan continues: - You are my real parents, aren’t you? Sara feels responsible and wants to give him an answer: - You are right, I’m your birth mother and he is your father. – Dylan insists: - Why are you here? – Kelly: - I asked them to come – Dylan turns to his mother in shock but Kelly goes on: - I have to know that you would be safe, cared for and loved when I will be gone – Dylan: - How could you think that I would stay with someone who abandoned me? – Kelly interrupts them: - You three need to talk, you need to know each other. Dylan please, you have to listen to them – Dylan: - I don’t want to – and he runs away. Kelly touches Sara’s shoulder, she feels her pain and apologizes for Dylan’s reaction: - Give him some time. He is a good boy… he’s very smart – Grissom sighs: - I see – Sara is ashamed: - He is right, I made a mistake. – Kelly tries to soothe her by saying: - We all make mistakes, Sara – Sara: - But he is the one who’s paying the consequences of that mistake – Grissom: - We had our reasons, dear– Sara locks her eyes on Gil: - and why does it all seem so wrong now? – Kelly: - Let me talk to him – Sara replies: - No, I want to try - Sara goes to look for Dylan; Grissom follows her but she turns and stops him: - Give me 5 minutes – Gil nods; she approaches the boy. He is sitting on a swing. Sara asks him permission with a soft voice: - Can I? – Dylan shrugs his shoulders and Sara sits in the swing next to him. The boy leaps down and faces her. Sara: - I’m so sorry for everything, Dylan. I’m sorry for your mum, for your dad, for your earing problems, and above all I'm sorry for what I did to you. – Dylan: - Why did you leave me? – Sara tries her best to formulate an answer: - It’s complicated.... I wasn’t feeling very well. Something bad had happened to me. – Dylan interrupts her: - My father? Did he hurt you? – Sara: - No, absolutely not. He has always been kind to me – she invites Grissom to join them and he moves in their direction. – I was, I still am a Crime Scene Investigator. Do you know what it is? – Dylan nods and Sara continues: - I was working on a case, and a serial killer kidnapped me and left me to die. I managed to escape, your father and other members of my team saved me – Dylan listens very carefully. – But after that, nothing was the same. I was broken and unhappy. I wasn’t myself anymore and I couldn’t stay there. I went away from your father, from this town, from my old life. I could not be a good mother for you, you deserved more. – Dylan looks at Sara and then Grissom and says: - You are married now – Sara declares: - We got back together 5 years ago. – Grissom kneels in front of Dylan: - We're not here to be your parents, you already have them – Dylan states: - My mum is great! – Grissom agrees: - It’s true. We just want to know you, Dylan! – Sara teases: - Can you give us a chance? – Dylan thinks and then asks Sara something that has always intrigued him: - Did you give me a name before.. you .. ? Sara affirms instantly: - Arthur, I named you Arthur –

LITTLE FLASHBACK OF 13 YEARS EARLIER Sara was holding her baby when a nurse entered the room to take him. The social assistant was waiting outside. The woman checked the papers she had filled in. On the birth certificate she had written her name, Gilbert’s, and a new one: ARTHUR. She gave her baby a kiss on the forehead and passed him to the nurse who left the room, closing the door to a crying Sara. Grissom turns towards Sara, surprised by her admission. Sara looks at him directly in his eyes: - It’s your father’s middle name! – Dylan chuckles, satisfied by the answer: - It’s my middle name too – Sara is grateful that the Ross in some way had kept the name she had chosen for him. Dylan remarks: - My father was a pastor, he always told me to forgive the others. I’m forgiving you! – They give him an appreciative smile before Grissom touches his head saying: - He’d be very proud – Dylan nods and walks over to an emotional Sara. He wipes a tear from her face, similarly to what Gilbert would have done. She whispers a thank you to him, then they return to the bench where Kelly was sitting, watching the whole scene.

PART 6 Grissom and Sara start seeing Dylan every day after school. Their bond gets deeper and deeper. Dylan looks more at ease with them. He loves spending time with Gil, making experiments, going fishing or sailing. They find a new balance in their lives. Every once in a while, he even spends the night with them. The guest bedroom has become his room now. Kelly’s cancer on the other hand gets worse and she ends in hospital. It’s a Wednesday morning when Sara picks up Dylan from school and brings him to the hospital to give his mother one last hug. Kelly Ross dies at 2.00 PM of that same day and Dylan cries in the arms of Gilbert. At the funeral he stands between Sara and Grissom. He is brave but silent. Over the last year, he has lost both of his parents and found two new ones. It’s strange how life takes an unexpected turn sometimes and turns up the way it should have from the beginning. In fact, before her death, Kelly had arranged things so that Sara and Gil could have full custody of the boy and become a family.

PART 7 Sara is in a hurry; she greets her boss and some other members of the team as she prepares to leave the office. The receptionist at the desk calls her back and gives her some correspondence. She doesn’t have time to read it, she will do it later with calm. All she wants to do now is to go home to her boys and to enjoy the evening with them. After dinner Dylan does his homework in the living room, Gil prepares his lesson and Sara tidies the kitchen up. She suddenly remembers the letters in her purse, so she takes a break to read them. An envelope without a sender attracts her attention. She rips the envelope and her jaw drops.

Dear Sara Sidle, I’m Natalie Davis, you probably remember me as the miniature killer. I’ve been thinking of you very often lately. I know, I don’t have the right to write to you after all this time, but my journey here in prison made me reflect on my actions and on what I have done to you and to the other victims. I’m so sorry Mrs Sidle, I can’t change the past and my apologies can’t relieve your pain or what you’ve lost. I was angry and I seeked vengeance for no real reason except because I couldn’t accept the daemons from my past. I should have known that that wasn’t the answer but I was too lost. I hold Mr Grissom responsible for the death of Arnie Dell and I tried to take you away from him because of his love for you. However, and now I know this, it was not his fault and you were a collateral damage in my inner war. I don’t deserve your forgiveness; I’m not searching for redemption. I’m just happy that you are alive. I also hope life has been kind to you and that Mr Grissom is still by your side. Sincerely, Natalie Davis

Sara confronts Grissom about the letter and what to do next. They are concerned, still they decide to go to the county jail to see Natalie in person. As CSI they get a special permit to meet her in the interrogation room. The door opens and a guard escorts Natalie Davis inside. She is handcuffed and she’s wearing an orange suit. For the first time in 14 years she, Sara and Gil are in the same room. The guard moves to stand in a corner and Natalie sits at the table. Natalie is surprised by this visit: - I didn’t expect you to come. - Sara: - I didn’t expect your letter either. - They contemplate in silence for some time. Natalie clears her throat: - Anyway, thank you. Your presence here is very important to me – Sara replies: - I’m here because I wanted to look you in the eyes, to make sure your words were true and your regret sincere. Natalie: - Mrs. Sidle, I don’t know what to do to prove it to you - Sara: - You wrote you don’t deserve forgiveness… – Natalie: - No, I don’t. I’m a sinner and I need to be punished for my sins! – Sara: - Hmmm. It was not easy to understand it but now, now I’ve got it. We have different backgrounds, different stories but we have one thing in common – Natalie looks confused. Sara continues: - We are survivors, Natalie! We are women with physical and psychological scars. I could have surrendered to the difficulties that life put in front of me, as you did, but I decided to move on and I’m still doing it – Sara grabs Gilbert’s hand and squeezes it. They exchange a tender look. They both smile before Sara shakes her head and goes on: – Therefore, I forgive you! – Natalie is incredulous: - Why are you so good to me after all I’ve done? - Sara: - I’m not good, I just think this place and your sense of guilt are enough for me. We cannot live in resentment forever, and you know what? I’ve learned such an important lesson from a very mature 13 years old boy who has been through hell in such a short time. Goodbye Natalie. - Sara and Gil stand up and leave the room, Natalie and her nightmares behind. Dylan will be home soon with some of his friends. Tonight, they will go to the Luna park, they will ride the rollercoaster and then eat pizza. Their future is definitely bright.

THE END

#csi crime scene investigation #csi vegas #fanfic #fanfiction #sara x grissom #sara sidle #gil grissom #gsr

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get-your-dreams · 10 months

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#fast lab covid test reviews #how to read fast lab covid test results #Fast lab covid test kit instructions #is fast lab tech legit #fast lab contact number #fast lab technologies new york #fastlab near me

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gerneralife · 10 months

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qq-miao · 3 years

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Innovation Diffusion: Two Additional Criteria & Assessment

After reading Roger’s five factors, there were two factors that were immediately missing from my perspective. First, there is the Policy* factor – the extent to which the product is supported by a favorable regulatory environment. This is essential for innovations like electric vehicles and alternative protein, which are embedded within larger policies for decarbonization and the energy transition and for food safety. Second, there is the Scalability* factor – the degree to which a product is easily manufactured and accessible by the mass market.

Below, I meticulously evaluate the four products according to the seven criteria and conclude that PB Slices, the collapsible wheel, and Stave puzzles will not reach market potential rapidly. All three confer low- to medium- relative advantage and have issues with scaling either due to their price barrier or due to compatibility with public values. These products will not diffuse easily no matter how flashy or innovative they might be.

Meanwhile, Polytrack seems the most promising for reaching market potential fast. Its synthetic track has three huge relative advantages over sand-based tracks. (1) It is water repellent and speeds up the drying of the track, which enables more races during the winter and higher profit for racing courses. (2) It creates a cushioned surface for horses and helps them avoid injuries and recover faster. (3) Riders feel and are safer too.

My learnings apply to my branding lab project in that we are repositioning our smart glasses, Solos AirGo 2.0, for the U.S. market. For this wearable to take off, proving relative advantage is the first hurdle. The glasses combine into one product the features of several different devices: Bluetooth headset, AI trainer, mobile phone, and regular glasses. We must prove that the investment in AirGo 2.0 is better than having any of these items separately. Consumers who are interested in the glasses most likely own the individual items, so in addition to proving our advantage we must prove compatibility and simplicity. Compatibility will come in the form of appealing to values around mental and physical health. Simplicity will be tied to trialability, perhaps by enabling a generous try-and-return program that Warby Parker has.

- Steward Kennedy, the inventor of PB slices, cites convenience as the primary advantage of his product. However, Roger describes that this advantage is derived from cost reduction and/or greater productivity / efficacy. While convenience could fall under the latter category, it seems pretty week as the only benefit conferred.

- The product should be scalable, assuming they have the extrusion technology. However, three years of R&D and still no product is not promising.

- With compatibility, there are values such as sustainability and enjoyment of experiences that this product runs counter to with its focus on plastic-wrapped individual slices. Furthermore, with the strong trends in food pointing to natural and whole, this product can be perceived as synthetic.

- Simplicity: the only high rating I give this product is that it is not complex.

- Single wraps make this product triable, but few things after COVID-19 are triable in store.

- The product is not observable as it’s meant to be incorporated into other foods.

- From a policy perspective, this product also rates low because its initial wax ingredient was not approved!

- At first blush this product things to confer advantages, but there are also disadvantages. How (in)convenient is it to collapse the wheel and furthermore carry the heavy object on you, as opposed to locking up the bike? What if a component breaks – can the average bike shop even fix it?

- The new wheel design on a bike costs between $2K-$6K. This probably means there are manufacturing complexities that present an issue for scaling. Then this becomes a chicken-egg problem: without adequate demand, you can’t get the investment to produce at scale. Without production at scale, you can’t make product accessible.

- People value convenience and mobility, but is this product’s cost worth those values? The wheel faces competition not just from traditional bikes but also from the shared mobility space like Uber and Lyft scooters, and blue bikes.

- So, how complex is this product? I watched a video of Tuck Bike’s product “The first folding bike with folding wheels” and it seems pretty unwieldy. You have to go through many steps to fold up the components. After, it’s still heavy and you must drag it…

- The product might be triable as normal bikes are in retailers that carry it.

- Observability: the only high rating I give is that you can’t miss seeing this weird bike out in the public!

- From a policy angle, there is no particular support or impediment for the product assuming that it passes product safety tests.

- To understand what the Stave Puzzles were, I first had to watch their promo video. From my understanding, the relative advantage of the puzzles is that they offer cerebral and tactile stimulus in a novel format. However, their advantage differs depending on what you compare them to. Compared to flat jigsaw puzzles they seem more fun. But compared to other physical brain teasers which are also tactile, they don’t confer much advantage. That’s why I rated this medium.

- The puzzles are handmade in Vermont by people who take six months to train. A puzzle costs around half a grand on average. This product is not scalable nor accessible to the average person.

- Compatibility: this is the only high rating I gave, because the puzzle does appeal to a lot of the consumer trends. It enables people to unplug from digital, enjoy multi-sensorial experiences, engage in a social activity.

- Based on customer reviews, the puzzles are complex enough that they invoke a love-hate relationship. Due to their difficulty they only appeal to a certain type of brainiac.

- Since the puzzles are very expensive and only made in a workshop in Vermont, they are not very triable.

- Thanks to online video, however, people can “try” on the puzzles with their eyes by observing how they are made and the process of piecing them together.

- Policy has no impact on this product.

- Polytrack confers several substantial advantages of traditional sand-based tracks. (1) It is water repellent and speeds up the drying of the track, which enables more races during the winter and higher profit for racing courses. (2) It creates a cushioned surface for horses and helps them avoid injuries and recover faster. (3) Riders feel and are safer too. Therefore, relative advantage ranks high.

- The Polytrack material seems easy enough to make at scale that it has been brought into at least two turfs tracks in the article.

- From a values perspective, the ability of Polytrack to help racing courses turn a higher profit and maintain the health of horses and racers aligns well with all major stakeholders.

- The product is not complex; it’s a construction substitute for traditional turf material.

- In terms of trialability, Polytrack manages well because people can check out its application on the racing courses which have adopted it. However, this depends on the accessibility of the race site.

- Polytrack is not an observable material, but in this rare instance it is desired because racing courses don’t really want their audiences to know that the course has been altered.

- Policy doesn’t impact this product.

#2021sloanbrandingb

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yoyomorse · 3 years

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Scientists said claims about China creating the coronavirus were misleading. They went viral anyway.

The spread of the unverified assertions by Chinese scholar Li-Meng Yan, widely dismissed as “flawed,” show how vulnerable scientific sites are to misuse and misunderstanding.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/02/12/china-covid-misinformation-li-meng-yan/

Scientists from Johns Hopkins, Columbia and other leading American universities moved with rare speed when a Chinese virologist, Li-Meng Yan, published an explosive paper in September claiming that China had created the deadly coronavirus in a research lab.

The paper, the American scientists concluded, was deeply flawed. And a new online journal from MIT Press — created specifically to vet claims related to SARS-CoV-2 — reported Yan’s claims were “at times baseless and are not supported by the data” 10 days after she posted them.

But in an age when anyone can publish anything online with a few clicks, this response was not fast enough to keep Yan’s disputed allegations from going viral, reaching an audience in the millions on social media and Fox News. It was a development, according to experts on misinformation, that underscored how systems built to advance scientific understanding can be used to spread politically charged claims dramatically at odds with scientific consensus.

Yan’s work, which was posted to the scientific research repository Zenodo without any review on Sept. 14, exploded on Twitter, YouTube and far-right websites with the help of such conservative influencers as Republican strategist Stephen K. Bannon, who repeatedly pushed it on his online show “War Room: Pandemic,” according to a report published Friday by Harvard researchers studying media manipulation. Yan expanded her claims, on Oct. 8, to blame the Chinese government explicitly for developing the coronavirus as a “bioweapon.”

Online research repositories have become key forums for revelation and debate about the pandemic. Built to advance science more nimbly, they have been at the forefront of reporting discoveries about masks, vaccines, new coronavirus variants and more. But the sites lack protections inherent to the traditional — and much slower — world of peer-reviewed scientific journals, where articles are published only after they have been critiqued by other scientists. Research shows papers posted to online sites also can be hijacked to fuel conspiracy theories.

Yan’s paper on Zenodo — despite several blistering scientific critiques and widespread news coverage of its alleged flaws — now has been viewed more than 1 million times, probably making it the most widely read research on the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Harvard misinformation researchers. They concluded that online scientific sites are vulnerable to what they called “cloaked science,” efforts to give dubious work “the veneer of scientific legitimacy.”

“They’re many years behind in realizing the capacity of this platform to be abused,” said Joan Donovan, research director at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, which produced the report. “At this point, everything open will be exploited.”

Yan, who previously was a postdoctoral fellow at Hong Kong University but fled to the United States in April, agreed in an interview with The Washington Post that online scientific sites are vulnerable to abuse, but she rejected the argument that her story is a case study in this problem.

Rather, Yan said, she is a dissident trying to warn the world about what she says is China’s role in creating the coronavirus. She used Zenodo, with its ability to instantly publish information without restrictions, because she feared the Chinese government would obstruct publication of her work. Her academic critics, she argued, will be proven wrong.

“None of them can rebut from real, solid, scientific evidence,” Yan said. “They can only attack me.”

Zenodo acknowledged that the furor has prompted reforms, including the posting of a label Thursday above Yan’s paper saying, “Caution: Potentially Misleading Contents” after The Washington Post asked whether Zenodo would remove it. The site also prominently features links to critiques from a Georgetown University virologist and the MIT Press.

“We take misinformation really seriously, so it is something that we want to address,” said Anais Rassat, a spokeswoman for the European Organization for Nuclear Research, which operates Zenodo as a general purpose scientific site. “We don’t think taking down the report is the best solution. We want it to stay and indicate why experts think it’s wrong.”

But mainstream researchers who watched Yan’s claims race across the Internet far more quickly than they could counter them have been left troubled by the experience — newly convinced that the capacity for spreading misinformation goes far beyond the big-name social media sites. Any online platform without robust and potentially expensive safeguards is equally vulnerable.

“This is similar to the debate we’re having with Facebook and Twitter. To what degree are we creating an instrument that speeds disinformation, and to what extent are you contributing to that?” said Stefano M. Bertozzi, editor in chief of the MIT Press online journal “Rapid Reviews: COVID-19,” which challenged Yan’s claims.

Bertozzi added, “Most scientists have no interest in getting in a pissing match in cyberspace.”

Coronavirus fuels prominence of online science sites

Online scientific sites have been growing for more than a decade, becoming a vital part of the ecosystem for making and vetting claims across numerous academic fields, but their growth has been supercharged by the urgency of disseminating new discoveries about a deadly pandemic.

Some of the best-known of these sites, such as medRxiv and bioRxiv, have systems for rapid evaluation intended to avoid publishing work that doesn’t pass an initial sniff test of scientific credibility. They also reject papers that only review the work of others or that make such major claims that they shouldn’t be publicized before peer review can be conducted, said Richard Sever, co-founder of medRxiv and bioRxiv.

“We want to create a hurdle that’s high enough that people have to do some research,” Sever said. “What we don’t want to be is a place where there’s a whole bunch of conspiracy theories.”

Online publishing sites generally are called “preprint servers” because many researchers use them as a first step toward traditional peer review, giving the authors a way to make their work public — and available for possible news coverage — before more thorough analysis begins. Advocates of preprint servers tout their ability to create early visibility for important discoveries and also spark useful debate. They note that traditional peer-reviewed journals have their own history of occasionally publishing hoaxes and bad science.

“It’s very funny that everyone is worrying about preprints given that, collectively, journals are not doing a great job of keeping misinformation out,” Sever said.

He and other proponents, however, acknowledge risks.

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generalcreatortiger · 4 years

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Scientists said claims about China creating the coronavirus were misleading. They went viral anyway.

Craig Timberg

Feb. 13, 2021 at 7:48 a.m. GMT+8

“None of them can rebut from real, solid, scientific evidence,” Yan said. “They can only attack me.”

Bertozzi added, “Most scientists have no interest in getting in a pissing match in cyberspace.”

Catch up on the most important developments in the pandemic with our coronavirus newsletter. All stories in it are free to access.

Coronavirus fuels prominence of online science sites

“It’s very funny that everyone is worrying about preprints given that, collectively, journals are not doing a great job of keeping misinformation out,” Sever said.

After Wuhan mission on pandemic origins, WHO team dismisses lab leak theory

He and other proponents, however, acknowledge risks.

While scientists debate — and sometimes refute — flawed claims by one another, nonscientists also scan preprint servers for data that might appear to bolster their pet conspiracy theories.

A research team led by computer scientist Jeremy Blackburn has tracked the appearance of links to preprints from social media sites, such as 4chan, popular with conspiracy theorists. Blackburn and a graduate student, Satrio Yudhoatmojo, found more than 4,000 references on 4chan to papers on major preprint servers between 2016 and 2020, with the leading subjects being biology, infectious diseases and epidemiology. He said the uneven review process has “lent an air of credibility” to preprints that experts might quickly spot as flawed but ordinary people wouldn’t.

“That’s where the risk is,” said Blackburn, an assistant professor at Binghamton University. “Papers from the preprint servers show up in a variety of conspiracy theories … and are misinterpreted wildly because these people aren’t scientists.”

Jessica Polka, executive director of ASAPbio, a nonprofit group that pushes for more transparency and wider use of preprint servers, said they rely on something akin to crowdsourcing, in which comments from outside researchers quickly can identify flaws in work, but she acknowledged vulnerabilities based on the extent of review by server staff and advisers. A recent survey by ASAPbio found more than 50 preprint servers operating — and nearly as many review policies.

And the survey didn’t include Zenodo, which, Polka said, should not be considered a preprint server given its broader mission. Rather, she said, it’s an online repository that happens to host some preprints, as well as conference slides, raw data and other “scientific objects” that anyone with an email address can simply upload. Zenodo has none of the vetting common to major preprint servers and isn’t organized to easily surface critiques or conflicting research, she said.

“Without that kind of context, a preprint server is even more vulnerable to the spread of disinformation,” Polka said. But she added, in general, “Preprint servers do not have the resources to be arbiters of whether something is true or not.”

Yan defends her work

Yan said in her interview with The Post that Zenodo’s openness is what drove her decision to use the site. She had initially submitted her paper to bioRxiv because as a researcher whose work has appeared in Nature, the Lancet Infectious Diseases and other traditional publications, she knew that this preprint server would appear more legitimate to other scientists.

Trump pardons Steve Bannon after ugly falling out early in his presidency

Yan has a medical degree from Xiangya Medical College of Central South University and a PhD in ophthalmology from Southern Medical University — both in China — and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Hong Kong, she said. That university announced she was no longer affiliated with it in July, following an initial appearance on Fox News, saying in a statement that her claim about the origin of the coronavirus “has no scientific basis but resembles hearsay.”

After she fled Hong Kong, she harbored deep suspicions about that government’s potential to block publication of her work, she said. When she checked bioRxiv 48 hours after making her submission, the site appeared to have gone offline, Yan said. Fearing the worst, she withdrew the paper and uploaded it to Zenodo.

Sever, the bioRxiv co-founder, said he could not comment on an individual submission but said that, despite occasional glitches, he was aware of no “prolonged outage” on the site during mid-September and no sign that the Chinese, or anyone else, had hacked it.

For Yan’s paper on Zenodo, she did not list an academic affiliation, as is customary for research. Instead, she listed the Rule of Law Society and Rule of Law Foundation, which are New York-based nonprofit groups founded by exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, a close associate of Bannon, who in 2018 was announced as chairman of the Rule of Law Society. When Bannon was arrested on fraud charges in August, he was aboard Guo’s 150-foot yacht, off the coast of Connecticut. (President Donald Trump last month pardoned Bannon, his former campaign chairman and White House chief strategist).

Chinese dissidents say they’re being harassed by a businessman with links to Steve Bannon

Yan said she listed the Rule of Law entities out of respect for what she said was their work helping dissidents in China, and that they paid for her flight from Hong Kong and provided a resettlement stipend while she largely lives off her savings. She said her work is independent, and she rejected notions that Bannon was helping her spread political claims.

“I didn’t know he was so controversial when I was in Hong Kong,” Yan told The Post.

On Sept. 15, the day after Yan’s paper appeared on Zenodo, she was a guest on Fox’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” an appearance watched by 4.8 million broadcast viewers and 2.8 million on YouTube, and that also generated extensive engagement on Facebook and Twitter, according to the Harvard researchers. Bannon appeared on Carlson’s show that same week and discussed Yan’s claims. He also interviewed her on “War Room: Pandemic” 22 times last year, both before and after the Zenodo publication.

The political context was obvious in the midst of a hotly contested election in which Trump was attacking Democratic rival Joe Biden for supposedly being overly sympathetic to the Chinese government, dubbing him “Beijing Joe.” Republicans, including White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, pushed Yan’s paper along with the hashtag #CCPLiedPeopleDied, a reference to the Chinese Communist Party.

Archives showed the paper had more than 150,000 views on its first day on Zenodo — spectacular reach for a scientific paper, especially one that had not yet been reviewed by any independent experts.

But this surge of attention also generated backlash, including critical news reports by National Geographic and others, raising serious questions about Yan’s claims.

In the academic world, the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins issued a point-by-point response one week after Yan’s paper appeared on Zenodo, raising 39 individual issues in what it said was “objective analysis of details included in the report, as would be customary in a peer-review process.”

A few days later, the MIT Press online journal “Rapid Reviews: COVID-19” featured four scathing reviews, including one from Robert Gallo, a renowned AIDS researcher and a titan within the field of virology.

He labeled Yan’s work “misleading” and cited “questionable, spurious, and fraudulent claims.” Most points were highly technical, but Gallo also questioned her logic regarding the alleged role in creating the coronavirus for the Chinese military, which Gallo noted would be vulnerable to covid-19.

“And how would the Chinese protect themselves?” Gallo asked in his review. “Well, according to the paper, the military knew it could be stopped by remdesivir,” a drug later shown to have some benefit in treating covid-19 while not necessarily reducing the risk of death. “I would surely not want to be in the Chinese military if they were that naive.”

The idea to recruit Gallo came from Bertozzi, the journal’s editor and dean emeritus of the School of Public Health at University of California at Berkeley. Like Gallo, Bertozzi had worked extensively in AIDS research. After seeing Yan’s appearance on Fox, he was eager to use the online journal founded only months earlier to correct the scientific record.

“I felt it needed to be quickly debunked by people with scientific credibility,” Bertozzi said.

He soon thought of Gallo.

“We need somebody of your stature to say this is garbage science,” Bertozzi recalled telling him.

The reviews by Gallo and three other scientists also came with an editor’s note raising questions about the preprint process itself, saying, “While pre-print servers offer a mechanism to disseminate world-changing scientific research at unprecedented speed, they are also a forum through which misleading information can instantaneously undermine the international scientific community’s credibility, destabilize diplomatic relationships, and compromise global safety.”

But these public rebukes from some of the biggest names in virology did not deter Yan. Nor did a detailed report on Oct. 21 by CNN quoting her critics and documenting flaws.

Yan declined to be interviewed for that story, she said, because CNN did not allow her to address the issues they unearthed, point by point, on live television.

Instead, she published her own response on Nov. 21, on Zenodo, titled, “CNN Used Lies and Misinformation to Muddle the Water on the Origin of SARS-CoV-2.”

In her Post interview, Yan acknowledged — as CNN had reported — that her three co-authors on the original Sept. 14 paper were pseudonyms, used to protect what she said were other Chinese researchers whose families remain in peril back in China. Authors are typically discouraged from using false names in academic work.

Her claims suffered another blow this week, when a World Health Organization team sent to China to investigate the origins of the pandemic issued a statement saying it was “extremely unlikely” that the coronavirus came from a lab.

One of Yan’s earliest vocal critics, virologist Angela Rasmussen, who was at Columbia when Yan’s paper first spread, agreed with WHO’s assessment but did not rule out the possibility — however unlikely — of laboratory origin for the coronavirus. But she said the argument lacks concrete evidence.

“There needs to be a lot less speculation and a lot more investigation,” said Rasmussen, now an affiliate at Georgetown’s Center for Global Health Science and Security. “It takes a really long time to figure this stuff out... This is going to take years or even decades to solve it, if we ever do.”

Yet Yan continues to double down on her claims and to attack her critics as spreading “lies.” She still argues that the Chinese government intentionally created the coronavirus and continues to do everything it can to silence her.

Yan also offers no apologies for making common cause with Bannon and other Trump allies. As a dissident, she said, she doesn’t necessarily get her choice of supporters.

“If China is going to do this crime, who can hold them accountable?… Trump was the one who was tough” against China, Yan said, adding that her claim “is about real fact. I don’t want to mislead people.”

Even now, she is preparing another paper, nearing 30 pages, that she hopes will refute her critics and bring fresh attention to her claims about China, covid-19 and what she says is an international coverup campaign.

Yan plans to publish it in a few weeks, she said — on Zenodo.

#china covid19 covid-19

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grootpoepjeplasjehoofd · 5 years

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Problems with a government-created coronavirus test have limited the United States’ capacity to rapidly increase testing, just as the outbreak has entered a worrisome new phase in countries worldwide. Experts are increasingly concerned that the small number of U.S. cases may be a reflection of limited testing, not of the virus’s spread.

While South Korea has run more than 35,000 coronavirus tests, the United States has tested only 426 people, not including people who returned on evacuation flights. Only about a dozen state and local laboratories can now run tests outside of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta because the CDC kits sent out nationwide earlier this month included a faulty component.

U.S. guidelines recommend testing for a very narrow group of people — those who display respiratory symptoms and have recently traveled to China or had close contact with an infected person.

But many public health experts think that in light of evidence that the disease has taken root and spread in Iran, Italy, Singapore and South Korea, it’s time to broaden testing in the United States. Infectious disease experts fear that aside from the 14 cases picked up by public health surveillance, there may be other cases, undetected, mixed in with those of colds and flu. What scares experts the most is that the virus is beginning to spread in countries outside China, but no one knows whether that’s the case in the United States, because they aren’t checking.

“Coronavirus testing kits have not been widely distributed to our hospitals and public health labs. Those without these kits must send samples all the way to Atlanta, rather than testing them on site, wasting precious time as the virus spreads,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).

In a congressional hearing Tuesday, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) pressed Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on whether the CDC test was faulty. He denied that the test did not work.

But in a news briefing that was going on about the same time, Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said that she was “frustrated” about problems with the test kits and that the CDC hoped to send out a new version to state and local health departments soon.

“I think we are close,” she said. She said that the agency is working as fast as possible on the tests, but that the priority is making sure they are accurate.

Currently, she said, a dozen state and local health departments can do the testing, although positive results need to be confirmed by the CDC. She also said she hoped that tests from commercial labs would soon come online.

Messonnier said the agency was weighing widening its testing protocols to include people traveling to the United States from countries beyond mainland China, considering the rapid spread of the virus in other places in recent days.

The nation’s public health laboratories, exasperated by the malfunctioning tests in the face of a global public health emergency, have taken the unusual step of appealing to the Food and Drug Administration for permission to develop and use their own tests. In Hawaii, authorities are so alarmed about the lack of testing ability that they requested permission from the CDC to use tests from Japan. A medical director at a hospital laboratory in Boston is developing an in-house test, but is frustrated that his laboratory won’t be able to use it without going through an onerous and time-consuming review process, even if demand surges.

“This is an extraordinary request, but this is an extraordinary time,” said Scott Becker, the chief executive of the Association of Public Health Laboratories, which is asking the FDA for permission to allow the laboratories to create and implement their own laboratory-developed tests.

At one hospital in the Mid-Atlantic region, a patient who recently returned from Singapore, which has 90 cases, was admitted to the hospital with mild upper respiratory symptoms, according to a hospital official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect the patient’s privacy. The patient tested negative for flu. Because of underlying medical conditions, the person was at higher risk for severe illness if this was a coronavirus infection.

Even though clinicians suspected coronavirus, and treated the person for it and placed the patient in isolation, the patient was not tested.

“If this person had returned from mainland China, they would have been tested for coronavirus,” the official said. The patient recovered and was discharged to their home.

Testing also affects other aspects of care.

People with confirmed cases can enroll in clinical trials for therapeutics. For patients who need more intense care in a facility with a biocontainment unit, that facility can receive reimbursement from the federal government for care, the official said.

The CDC announced a week and a half ago that it would add pilot coronavirus testing to its flu surveillance network in five cities, a step toward expanded testing of people with respiratory symptoms who didn’t have other obvious risk factors. Specimens that test negative for flu will be tested for coronavirus. But that expanded testing has been delayed because of an unspecified problem with one of the compounds used in the CDC test. About half of state labs got inconclusive results when using the compound, so the CDC said it would make a new version and redistribute it.

To public health experts, the delays — and lack of transparency about what, exactly, is wrong with the test — are extremely concerning.

“We have over 700 flights every month between Hawaii and Japan or South Korea,” where the virus is spreading in the community, said Hawaii Lt. Gov. Josh Green, who is also an emergency physician. It’s unlikely that the CDC would allow state labs to accept a test from another nation, he said, but “this is an exceptional circumstance.”

In a letter to the FDA, the Association of Public Health Laboratories, which represents state and local laboratories, asked the agency to use “enforcement discretion” to allow the laboratories to create and use their own laboratory-developed tests.

“While we appreciate the many efforts underway at CDC to provide a diagnostic assay to our member labs … this has proven challenging and we find ourselves in a situation that requires a quicker local response,” said the letter, which was co-signed by Becker. “We are now many weeks into the response with still no diagnostic or surveillance test available outside of CDC for the vast majority of our member laboratories.”

Because a public health emergency has been declared, certified hospital laboratories that usually have the ability to internally develop and validate their own tests can’t use them without applying for an “emergency use authorization,” a major barrier to deploying the test.

“I think a lot of people, myself included, think it’s very likely this virus might be circulating at low levels in the United States right now. We can’t know for sure because we haven’t seen it,” said Michael Mina, associate medical director of clinical microbiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He said the optimal testing scenario for flu is a 30-minute turnaround on a test, but right now, shipping samples to Atlanta to test for coronavirus means a 48-hour wait.

“A lot of hospitals are trying to do something similar, which is get a test up and running on an instrument, get it validated in-house,” Mina said. “I think all of us are coming to the same realization that we can’t do anything as long as this remains under the control of CDC and state labs.”

Marion Koopmans, a virologist at the Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands, which has performed a few hundred tests on behalf of more than a dozen countries, said that developing a test for a new pathogen is complicated and involves refinement and a back-and-forth between researchers who are constantly learning from one another.

“That is typical for a new disease outbreak. No one actually knows how this works, so you really have to build these assays on the fly,” Koopmans said.

But as the United States is still struggling to ramp up its capacity, the coronavirus test was added to the sentinel flu surveillance system in the Netherlands two weeks ago. The test was recently rolled out to 12 high-performing molecular diagnostic laboratories in the Netherlands so that they can be ready to scale up if demand increases.

Part of the problem in the United States is the tension between regulations intended to ensure a high-quality standard for tests and the need to roll out diagnostic capabilities very quickly. No test is perfect, and with high stakes for missing or misidentifying a case, public health officials want to make sure that tests are as accurate as possible and are validated by labs that run them. But the slowness may also reflect years of underinvestment in public health infrastructure — and a bias toward developing treatments that may seem more appealing to the public.

“The public health system is not sufficiently built to surge very rapidly,” said Luciana Borio, the former director of Medical and Biodefense Preparedness Policy at the National Security Council and now a vice president at In-Q-Tel, a strategic investor that supports the U.S. intelligence community. “Over the years, when given limited dollars, we applied it toward vaccines and therapeutics, more so than diagnostic tests. I think there’s this idea: The diagnostic test is not going to save my life. But the fact is they underpin so much of the response and deserve a lot more attention.”

#sorry for posting in full but it's normally paywalled

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warninggraphiccontent · 4 years

Text

20 November 2020

Some personal news

Funny how whenever anyone says they have 'some personal news', it's always professional news, isn't it?

It was my turn yesterday. After more than seven years at the Institute for Government, I've decided it's time for a new challenge. I'll be going freelance from 1 January, so please get in touch if you'd like to work with me (all interesting projects on data, digital, openness, government, etc considered). I'll also be working on a book idea. Exciting, if also a little bit vaguely terrifying...

I'll still be an associate at the IfG, and still running our Data Bites event series. (Put Wednesday 2 December in your diary for the next one, and then Wednesday 3 February 2021 after that.)

And - rest assured! - I'll still be writing this newsletter, though it will be taking a break for much of December.

Just one more thing this week: I have a report out (with colleagues Marcus and Oliver) on digital government (in the UK) during the coronavirus crisis. There's a nice write-up from diginomica here, some nice quotes for the paperback from Tanya Filer and Tom Loosemore, and I'll be on the IfG podcast talking about it later. I'm a big fan of this chart, which tells the story of the crisis through visitors to GOV.UK.

This is the second of three reports on digital government we're publishing this autumn - the first was on policy making in a digital world, and the third, on future technology and the government workforce, will be out soon.

Have a great weekend

Gavin

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Today's links:

Graphic content

Viral content

3D Map of COVID Cases by Population, March through Today (r/dataisbeautiful)

Covid in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count* (New York Times)

Here’s a quick thread on what we changed and why (Charlie Smart)

Visualizing Covid-19 Deaths As Spheres in a Tank (r/dataisbeautiful)

Why rich countries are so vulnerable to covid-19* (The Economist)

COVID wriggling its way up county by county, subsiding, and then returning in six dimensions (Benjamin Schmidt)

States That Imposed Few Restrictions Now Have the Worst Outbreaks* (New York Times)

Coronavirus: Inside test-and-trace - how the 'world beater' went wrong (BBC News)

How have COVID-19 rates changed over the last week in England's small areas? (Carl Baker)

New York and the crisis in mass transit systems* (FT)

The kids aren’t alright: How Generation Covid is losing out* (FT)

The vaccines come of age

An effective covid-19 vaccine is a turning point in the pandemic* (The Economist)

Eurozone economy: the struggle to stay afloat until a vaccine arrives* (FT)

The world will soon have covid-19 vaccines. Will people have the jabs?* (The Economist)

Tracking the vaccine race (Reuters)

A man for Four Seasons

Even in Defeat, Trump Found New Voters Across the U.S.* (New York Times)

How Trump’s presidency turned off some Republicans – a visual guide (The Guardian)

Counties That Suffered Higher Unemployment Rates Voted for Biden* (New York Times)

In 2020, the critical must-win states were the 'blue wall'. By 2024, they could be Arizona, Georgia or even Texas (Aron)

Suburban turnout pushed Joe Biden to victory* (FT)

How Suburbs Swung the 2020 Election (Bloomberg CityLab)

Here’s how long it could take to certify the vote in key states — and the GOP efforts to upend that process* (Washington Post)

#dataviz

#ElectionViz: US TV networks have room for data storytelling improvement (Tableau)

Tracking the US election results: 'We needed to be clear, fast, and accurate' (The Guardian)

Sport and leisure

Lewis Hamilton's seventh F1 world title: The stats (BBC Sport)

How new swing techniques are revolutionising golf* (The Economist)

“The Queen’s Gambit” is right: young chess stars always usurp the old* (The Economist)

Who’s in the Crossword? (The Pudding)

Everything else

The State of Ageing in 2020 (Centre for Ageing Better)

Skyscrapers in London: Do we want to reach for the stars?* (The Times)

Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals 2020 (World Bank)

Boeing’s Max jet set to return just as customers head for exit* (FT)

Behind the tally, names and lives* (Washington Post)

Climate graphic of the week: Siberia experiences record temperatures* (FT)

Meta data

Viral content

Digital government during the coronavirus crisis (IfG)

What has digital government in the UK learned during the COVID-19 crisis? (diginomica)

Investigation into government procurement during the COVID-19 pandemic (NAO)

How DWP managed a surge in demand for Universal Credit during COVID-19 (diginomica)

Vaccine rumours debunked: Microchips, 'altered DNA' and more (BBC News)

Health

Crowdsourcing Our NHS AI Lab Skunkworks Project (NHSX)

Working on a global mental health databank pilot (Wellcome Digital)

National project shows digital inclusion is key to tackling health inequalities (Good Things Foundation)

UK government

The National Data Strategy for Health and Care (and the other one for everything else) (medConfidential)

The UK National Data Strategy 2020: doing data ethically (ODI)

Matt Warman's speech on digital identity at Identity Week 2020 (DCMS)

Integrated Review (the Prime Minister)

The latest release of @ONSgeography's National Statistics UPRN Lookup links #UPRNs to postcodes (via Owen Boswarva)

The Document Checking Service: trialling online passport validity checks (Government Digital Service)

A possible expansion of FOIA... (via George Greenwood)

Taiwan

How Taiwan beat Covid-19* (Wired)

Taiwan’s civic tech gift to the world (GovInsider)

How Taiwan became a coronavirus success story (IfG, from June 2020)

North America

Data disappeared: four years of the Trump administration (Highline)

How the U.S. Military Buys Location Data from Ordinary Apps (Motherboard)

The federal government’s chief information security officer is helping an outside effort to hunt for alleged voter fraud* (Washington Post, via Alice)

Zuckerberg and Dorsey to be quizzed by Senate following Biden vote victory (BBC News)

Companies could face hefty fines under new Canadian privacy law (CBC)

Analysis (Cory Doctorow)

Everything else

Announcing the Data Collective: Free training, consultancy, peer support, and community for those using data in the social sector (DataKind UK)

Increasingly trusted to find an edge: What it’s like to be a club’s data analyst* (The Athletic)

Design is the strategy* (Apolitical)

An adequacy determination does not resolve the lower standard of data protection in the UK. (Amberhawk)

The TBI Globalism Study: Transparency and Autonomy Should Underpin Online Voting Systems (Tony Blair Institute for Global Change)

The Data Governance Working Group of the Global Partnership for AI is seeking feedback on how we're thinking about our work and scope (via Jeni)

Opportunities

JOB: Director, GOV.UK (GDS)

JOB: Head of Technology and Architecture for GOV.UK opening at GDS (Technology in Government)

COURSE: ANNOUNCING: First of its Kind Executive Course on Data Stewardship — Focused on Data Re-Use in the Public Interest (Open Data Policy Lab)

EVENT: How to enhance the UK’s geospatial ecosystem (Geospatial Commission)

EVENT: UKGovCamp 2021

And finally...

The R number, crocheted. (Statistrikk)

The Civic Tech Graveyard

AI can now produce passable parody song lyrics. The system is called Weird AI Yankovic. Really. (Pando)

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strouja · 4 years

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Turned 55 - A day in the life

I did this 5 years ago when I hit 50 and figured I’d do this again. To capture a moment in time and what I did on typical day, but it just happened to be my birthday Sept. 1, 2020

Late night working

I got inspired and decided to improve our security profile on our product on a very minor issue, but it would be nice do. So after midnight, which made it my birthday I researched on how to only allow��Transport Layer Security (TLS) version 1.2 (and not allow earlier versions) to parts of our system used for internal communications. This is a minor issue as we lock this down for all customer access and this is just for our own “system to system” communication. So I looked up how to do this for something called Kibana and WebSphere liberty. I checked in config file changes into something called github for our product and sent a “pull request” to have an expert review it.

So it is now 1:30 am and I’m ready to call it a night.

Can we sleep now

The wife comes up to bed and we agree to NOT let our dog Winston sleep in our bed as he can make it hard for us humans to sleep. I would have him stay with us but Linh is not in favor.

So he whines outside our door for a good 15 minutes or so. Now we are ready to sleep.

All of sudden we hear him barking constantly. He behaves as a guard dog and we are perplexed as there is never anything going on late at night. This is relentless. After about 10 or 15 minutes of this I go out to see what the hell is going on. He is in the next room, on my 16 year old son's bed looking out the window barking at something in the darkness.

So I put his LED collar on and let him run around the house and chase until his heart’s content. He stays outside for 1/2 hour or so. I entice him back in and close the curtains in William's bedrooms so he won't go crazy barking anymore. So I think. FYI my son William is passed out in the basement on a new giant bean bag.Now it is probably 2:30 and I'm finally ready to sleep. But no, we hear Winston barking non-stop again.

FYI this never happens, normally it is peaceful here at night and the dog does not bark at things past 9 pm or so. It turns out whatever animals he saw before are still out there and he can see them from the windows on the 1st floor. My wife is fast asleep. I can't sleep because of this and possibly from my short but pretty hard 10 minute bike workout earlier today and the more than normal amount coffee I had today. I normally just have one cup but drank some leftover coffee in the afternoon.I probably fall asleep at 3 am or so.I have a 9 am meeting I have to get up for.

Working for the Man - IBM

Since I work from home I am able to get up right before my 9 am meeting. Then I run a meeting at 9:40 with my boss and my boss’ boss to go over how to allocate our finite internal cloud resources that one team wants to consume all of it. This is all done by Webex video & audio conferencing (like Zoom).

We have a bunch more meetings. Then I get a break sometime before noon.

Catching last 20 km of Tour de France Stage 4

When I get a break I put on the TV and through my Roku 3 put on NBC Sports Gold (without ads and European commentary) to see if today’s Tour de France stage is still on. I find out the race is still live and it is mountain top finish and there are 20 km left. So this is the perfect time to watch. I catch up on work while hearing the race and glimpsing at it.

Although I’m an avid cyclist, race myself, and lead a fast ride every week (normally 2 times a week but reduced to one because of covid-19 and with a smaller group), I’m not a big fan of pro bike racing because I know all the top names and riders are still doping. So I know only a fully doped rider has a chance of winning today’s stage, especially because it is mountain top finish.

Fixing my bike

After my ride on Sunday with my former teammates: Ray Plewacki, Vic Siegfried, and Dave Fuentes, I asked my buddy Ray P. if he can fix some shifting problem of my bike this week. He texted me earlier in the day and he agreed to come over during his lunch break. He arrives at 12:30 as I have another meeting going on. I tell my boss I will have to duck out of the meeting. He is fine with that.

Ray does his magic and does micro adjusting on my Shimano DuraAce Di2 electronic shifting. I could not shift into one of the mid gears in the back. Ray figured it out for me. So I’m all set for Tuesday Night World Championships.

Bike Ride

I eat my Overnight Oats in the very late morning and later on eat my vegan lentil based meal I made yesterday in the instant pot. I finish up work, then clean my bike (clean the drive train) and put bike in car.

I drive to bike ride and get FaceTime video call from my Don Cayelli on the ride over to wish me happy birthday. We agree to have our families go to North Carolina in a few months for a mini-vacation. We talk about a bunch of things and he asks how old the guys I ride with. I explain that the average age is about mid 30s, one guy I am older than his parents. The best and strongest rider by far is 40 years old, a former pro - Jason Schneider. He would not dope and had to leave the pro ranks as a result, doping was rampant (I claim it still is) but was much more out in the open. That is the only reason why his pro bike days were cut short.

There were some notable strong riders not here, 2 of the regulars - Alex Batres and Jason Boslaugh. Them not being here makes it much more manageable for me as the top guys feed off of others and try to outdo each other, in this process this puts the hurt on me. Many other super strong riders have not been here for anytime this year since we resumed these small rides because of Covid-19. Two notable people in this category are: George Croghan & Ferry Gijzel.

The ride tonight is very hard, 3 loops with hills about 12 miles each loop. We average 22.5 mph with stopping for lights every loop. So a pretty hard ride. I stay with the lead group but make a mistake on 2nd lap and don’t follow a very strong move (that I was told about) and end up doing a few miles solo to catch many 3 people and pull us most of the way to the main group on “Bennett Road” and catch them at the light.

Here is the strava from tonight’s ride

https://www.strava.com/activities/3998711104

This is missing pics of the strongest rider - Jason Schneider

Getting heckled on the ride

On the ride I get comments from the 2nd strongest rider on the ride about joining AARP. This kid is 27 and I am older than his parents. Spencer Lofgran is this person of interest.

Close the gap on the ride

On the last lap I was gaped a bit on a flat portion - Lawyers road as I was behind 3 folks that were not continuing the ride and the 4 guys in the front started hammering. The strongest guy comes back and gives me a massive push that pushes me past all the riders. This was by far the strongest push I ever received on the bike

Catching up with Mates

In the parking lot after the ride my buddy Vic Siegrfried is there waiting to wish me happy birthday. Here is a pic from Sunday ride with me, Ray Plewacki (middle) and Vic

Catching up with former work mates - IT Legend

I drive home and call a good friend of mine from work Anthony Zawacki to catch up with him. He was our best worker by far but in our last round of layoffs was dismissed. He is an IT rockstar doing great at his new job. He asks me a work question and that reminds me to contact a team using our product to help them avert a Kubernetes problem of an expiring certificate and to fix it before it expires.

Working for the man again

I get home and hop back on my new work issued MacBook Pro 16″ laptop to figure out the commands I want the customer to run. The commands are not in our official doc and I eventually find the commands that work. I test them on my own test system at an IBM lab and give them to support to get to them to the customer. I no longer have contacts with the on-site team as the main person I worked with left IBM.

I then write a long slack message to our documentation person to explain why we need these commands in our documentation. I then give sample output of the commands and what we are looking for.

The next day I spend a few hours doing more testing and spend an hour with our doc person to make all the changes to our official doc that I then get out to our customers on this release of our product.

Birthday Cake

My wife bought a 2 cakes, chocolate mousse with raspberries and apricot tart.

I eat 100% plant based foods (past 8 months or so) but broke that tonight to eat the chocolate mousse

We FaceTime my daughter Sophia at the University of Virginia (UVA), I light candles, and we sing happy birthday with Linh, Sophia (on iPhone), William and our infamous dog - Winston. Here are some poor photos I took in haste.

Trippy Lights & Wall Art

As I’m heading to bed my son shows me the LED lights we bought him for his bedroom and some very funky psychedelic wall art whose appearance change dramatically as the LED lights change colors.

#Stroud 55 Birthday

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