NIST: “Now that so many of us are covering our faces to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, how well do face recognition algorithms identify people wearing masks? The answer, according to a preliminary study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is with great difficulty. Even the best of the 89 commercial… Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Category Archives: Medicine
The World’s Supply Chain Isn’t Ready for a Covid-19 Vaccine
Bloomberg: “The industries that shepherd goods around the world on ships, planes and trucks acknowledge they aren’t ready to handle the challenges of shipping an eventual Covid-19 vaccine from drugmakers to billions of people. Already stretched thin by the pandemic, freight companies face problems ranging from shrinking capacity on container ships and cargo aircraft to… Continue Reading
Coronavirus Numbers Confusing You? Here’s How to Make Sense of Them
NextGov: “Turn on the TV news, or look at a news website, and you’ll see charts, graphics, and dashboards that supposedly indicate the latest with COVID-19 – statistics revealing the number of tests, cases, hospitalizations and deaths, along with where they happened and whether they are rising or falling. Different stories are told depending on… Continue Reading
State Data and Policy Actions to Address Coronavirus
Kaiser Family Foundation – “In late 2019, a new strain of coronavirus emerged in China. With the number of cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by this coronavirus, growing rapidly in the United States and around the world, the World Health Organization declared it a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Controlling the spread of the… Continue Reading
Populace Insights: American Priorities For Higher Education
Post Secondary Education Index – “A national private opinion quantitative survey that surfaces the decision-making factors that matter most for Americans in choosing a higher education experience. It was conducted by the think tank Populace and powered by Gradient Metrics. The primary component was a choice-based-conjoint (CBC) instrument that distinguishes between personal opinion and perceived… Continue Reading
Poll – who does and does not wear masks – and how to make masks people want to wear
Mask compliance varies by age, geographical region, income level, and perhaps unsurprisingly, political viewpoints, according to a National Geographic and Morning Consult poll. See also this related article – How to make masks that everyone will want to wear – “National Geographic contacted engineers, physicists, psychologists, and fashion designers to find out the best tips… Continue Reading
Biased algorithms on platforms like YouTube hurt people looking for information on health
NiemanLab: “YouTube hosts millions of videos related to health care. The Health Information National Trends Survey reports that 75% of Americans go to the internet first when looking for information about health or medical topics. YouTube is one of the most popular online platforms, with billions of views every day, and has emerged as a… Continue Reading
The states where face coverings are mandatory
Axios: “Alabama’s Republican Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statewide mask mandate on Wednesday as coronavirus cases continued to soar across the South, saying at a press conference: “We’re pleading with the people of Alabama to wear a mask.” The big picture: Montana is now the 26th state, in addition to the District of Columbia, that has… Continue Reading
Va. Adopts Nation’s First COVID-19 Workplace Safety Mandate
Law360: ” Virginia on Wednesday [July 14, 2020] became the first state to adopt an emergency workplace safety standard addressing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which Gov. Ralph Northam said is necessary to fill a gap created by federal inaction Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said the state’s new COVID-19 workplace safety standard comes “in the absence of federal… Continue Reading
The CDC has always been an apolitical island
Statnews – That’s left it defenseless against Trump: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the country’s top public health agency, is being kicked around by the White House. And it doesn’t have much power to kick back. As President Trump spars with nearly all of the federal agencies that have a hand in his… Continue Reading
Report on Veterans Affairs Use of Laboratory Dogs Concludes Diminished Requirement
“For many years, laboratory dogs have served as important animal models for biomedical research that has advanced human health. Conducted at the request of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), this report assesses whether laboratory dogs are or will continue to be necessary for biomedical research related to the VA’s mission. The report concludes… Continue Reading
The COVID Racial Data Tracker
“The COVID Racial Data Tracker advocates for, collects, publishes, and analyzes racial data on the pandemic across the United States. It’s a collaboration between the COVID Tracking Project and the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research. This project began when Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research, wrote a series… Continue Reading
