Neuroscience

What the NBAS $300 COVID-Detecting Rings Can Actually Accomplish – Slate

This ring will not rule them all (because the NBA is also taking several conventional anti-COVID measures).

Oura

This article is part ofPrivacy in the Pandemic, a Future Tense series.

The NBA, which will tentatively restart its season on July 30, is hoping that a futuristic titanium ring will help to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. When players get to Disney World to finish out the rest of the regular season and the playoffs, theyll have a number of gadgets at their disposal to keep the disease at bay, such as thermometers, pulse oximeters, and a wearable proximity alarm that beeps if youre within 6 feet of another person for more than five seconds. Players and staff will live in a bubble largely isolated from the rest of the world and undergo daily tests.

Theyll also have an option to wear a $300 ring made by the Finnish company Oura that measures temperature, pulse, respiratory rate, and other physiological data that could theoretically be helpful for detecting whether someone has COVID-19, even before they start exhibiting symptoms. By plugging these variables into an algorithm, the ring will provide the players with an illness probability score that tells them whether they should seek a medical examination. A smartphone app linked to the ring will present the score and other information the device has collected. The inner surface of the ring has three sensors: an infrared photoplethysmography sensor for respiration and heart rate, a negative temperature coefficient for body temperature, and a 3D accelerometer for movement.

While the Oura Ring was originally designed to track sleep patterns, the company is now funding studies at West Virginia Universitys Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute and the University of California San Francisco to determine whether the device could be useful for early COVID-19 detection. A Gizmodo investigation found that the pandemic has prompted a number of similar studies on other wearable technologies including Fitbits, the Apple Watch, and the Whoop fitness trackerwhich have thus far seemed promising, but far from conclusive. Early findings suggest that a higher resting heart rate, respiratory rate, and skin temperature could possibly signal the onset of an infection before the symptoms become noticeable. This is partly due to the fact that bodys immune system produces a substance called C-reactive protein during an infection, which is correlated with higher heart rates and other physiological signs. The Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute recently announced preliminary results from a study observing 600 healthcare professionals and first responders, indicating that the Oura Ring may be able to detect illness up three days before symptoms with 90 percent accuracy.

However, theres no substantial proof that wearables like the Oura Ring are useful for early detection and plenty of reason to be skeptical. Various medical experts told CNN that theres still very little information about the devices potential and that many of the studies conducted have been funded and published by the manufacturers themselves. Its also unclear whether wearables would be able to distinguish between the presence of the coronavirus or another viral infection, like influenza. People are most likely to transmit diseases to others in the period prior to experiencing symptoms, so the devices might not be all that helpful for predicting when someone is going to be highly infectious. The accuracy of readings for measurements like skin temperature can often fluctuate depending on how tightly someone is wearing a device. And, importantly, the FDA has yet to approve any wearables for sensing COVID-19. Simply put, wearable devices are not by themselves an adequate coronavirus-prevention measure as of now.

Some players have also been voicing concerns that the Oura Ring could violate their privacy. Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma wrote of the ring on Twitter, Look like a tracking device. Although in this case team staff reportedly wont have access to the health data unless the illness probability score is high enough to trigger intervention from a doctor, legislation in the U.S. like HIPAA generally hasnt caught up to regulate the rapidly-advancing field of medical data. Its often unclear who owns that medical data from a legal standpoint, and when certain people should be allowed to have access. The league has said that it will delete the data within four weeks after the end of the season.

The NBA isnt staking the health of its league on what may potentially turn out to be a high-tech boondoggle. As Gizmodo points out, the association is also implementing a number of measures that have been proven to impede the spread of the coronavirus, like regular testing and social distancing measures. It probably doesnt hurt, then, to try out experimental methods like Oura Rings, especially since the NBA can afford to. If these clunky rings do any harm, itll probably be the aesthetic kind.

Future Tenseis a partnership ofSlate,New America, andArizona State Universitythat examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.

Readers like you make our work possible. Help us continue to provide the reporting, commentary, and criticism you wont find anywhere else.

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What the NBAS $300 COVID-Detecting Rings Can Actually Accomplish - Slate

Neuroscience

The reality of COVID-19 with researcher Sameerah Wahab – Out In Jersey

Voices in Solidarity Part 5

People are nervous. The fear induced by shifts of concern from overall health and safety to the reopening of the economy has become a hazy whirlwind for the American people. As a result of this fear, it is necessary to question if we are ready to take such a leap when we as a country have not yet stabilized the spread of COVID-19.

Sameerah Wahab works and lives in San Diego. Wahab is trained in Cellular Biology and Neuroscience research, and is now working within Pediatric Neuro-Oncology laboratory and clinical research. At this time, Wahabs studies involve creating patient-derived xenografts (cellular mice models of patient tumors). The research is used to study subtyping and test drug responses. Passionate about both community building and quality medical care accessibility across social stratifications, Wahab works toward practicing holistic medicine in the future and within communities where she is needed most.

Working from home due to COVID-19, the labs researchers have stepped up to be where they are well needed in this timeprioritizing experiments and needs. The cellular biology and neuroscience researcher said the lab has thankfully gone into maintenance mode with essential research including COVID-19 on the same floor she would framework treatment for children with brain cancer.

Although our world is paused, the disparities between social and economic classes continue to widen

With a large homeless population in San Diego, Wahab said that with COVID-19 typical channels of care have changed. The homeless population is in danger as PPEProtective Personal Equipmentand general sanitation means are less accessible, and/or overpriced. There is the question of an end to COVID-19 too. Once the economy opens up people will struggle more than ever to keep up with our nations cost of living. If the economy is a singular focus then stimulating isolating capitalistic consequence: rendering less focus on the livelihood of folks suffering and more focus on the country making money.

More than half of the people that I know here have specifically lost their jobs or have been furloughedleading to many fearful for what their future will look like when things start to return to a state of normalcy. Without savings, what does this new emerging situation come into? Questioned Wahab, Although our world is paused, the disparities between social and economic classes continue to widen.

The sooner the country reopens, the sooner the aftermath settles for those left jobless. There is no back-up plan for this consequence that will continue to divide inadequate disparity for folks left behind in the thicket of the pandemic.

Wahab has lost both of her grandparents to COVID-19. Her family lives in Georgia where Governor Kemp has reopened nonessential businesses as COVID-19 numbers are on the rise. The suddenness of loss was unnerving. I felt quite helpless. With this being said, I found solidarity in knowing many are grieving loss around me. So I attempted to reconstruct the loss into something productive. I am lucky that I have been able to secure essential needs, and I can say the same for my family.

Wahabs immediate family remains safe. Although businesses are permitted by the state government to open, companies are neither necessarily reopening in Georgia nor expecting their employees to return to work. However, this leaves the people of Georgia with a difficult choice to make. A choice Wahab emphasizes as one of either prosperity or safety. Left speechless by the divide this pandemic leaves, Wahab feels as if she is in a film as she navigates just how it is public health has become a political debate.

With a background in Virology and Cellular Biology, Wahab finds herself at odds with the conflicting messages from our governmental organizations and scientific networks across the globe. Wahab stands firm in the belief that our lives must come first, before economics referencing the re-opening of businesses throughout the country.

I believe what people must keep in mind is how easy it is for the virus to spreadand that masksalthough decreasing the probability of contracting the virus are not in of themselves principally effective. RNA viruses (what the Coronavirus is) are increasingly unstable and prone to mutations, said Wahab. What this means is that the virus, as known with RNA viruses, are prone to change and may have variances.

For example, cardboard has been shown to hold viable viruses for 24 hours, plastics for longer than 72 hours, glass for about 96 hours, cloth for about 24 hours. I think what we must do as a whole is to think of what this means beyond the statistics.

From grocery shopping, to reckless social distancing, COVID-19 is knocking on doors every step of the way. If there is more opportunity for the virus to spread then there is more opportunity for it to mutate. This is especially important if the country is reopening in haste. We need more stability of testing, more treatment, and a vaccine.

Wahab also points out the fragility of face coverings. Although a face mask may act as a net and keep out larger respiratory droplets, the masks are permeable and dont at all blockade the virus from entering. In simple terms, if you have touched something with the virus and then touch the front of your mask with your hands, you might as well not be wearing a mask, said Wahab.

While it is easy to translate information as fear, Wahab has taken to educating the public. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wahab found a local organization, MonsterAid that has since made it their mission to deliver masks to those in need at affordable and fair prices. I stepped in and began to volunteer my time as their Public Health Educator in this role, and have been assisting to provide a scientific framework and principle justification for control and protective measures, said Wahab.

Wahab lives her days in hope. Although she believes we are approaching a new state of normalcy for the next year, she believes the people will recover with a new sense of compassion and passion for life. I hope we will emerge full of life and love. Many of us will reemerge in vastly different states, and I believe the inequity among our population will be evident. I am hoping that we will emerge willing to assist those around us. This is to be determined, but I will continue to remain an optimist.

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The reality of COVID-19 with researcher Sameerah Wahab - Out In Jersey

Neuroscience

"Synthetic Smells" Help Reveal How the Brain Perceives Odor – Technology Networks

Scientists have further decoded how mammalian brains perceive odors and distinguish one smell from thousands of others.In experiments in mice, NYU Grossman School of Medicine researchers have for the first time created an electrical signature that is perceived as an odor in the brain's smell-processing center, the olfactory bulb, even though the odor does not exist.

Because the odor-simulating signal was manmade, researchers could manipulate the timing and order of related nerve signaling and identify which changes were most important to the ability of mice to accurately identify the "synthetic smell."

"Decoding how the brain tells apart odors is complicated, in part, because unlike with other senses such as vision, we do not yet know the most important aspects of individual smells," says study lead investigator Edmund Chong, MS, a doctoral student at NYU Langone Health. "In facial recognition, for example, the brain can recognize people based on visual cues, such as the eyes, even without seeing someone's nose and ears," says Chong. "But these distinguishing features, as recorded by the brain, have yet to be found for each smell."

The current study results center on the olfactory bulb, which is behind the nose in animals and humans. Past studies have shown that airborne molecules linked to scents trigger receptor cells lining the nose to send electric signals to nerve-ending bundles in the bulb called glomeruli, and then to brain cells (neurons).

The timing and order of glomeruli activation is known to be unique to each smell, researchers say, with signals then transmitted to the brain's cortex, which controls how an animal perceives, reacts to, and remembers a smell. But because scents can vary over time and mingle with others, scientists have until now struggled to precisely track a single smell signature across several types of neurons.

For the new study, the researchers designed experiments based on the availability of mice genetically engineered by another lab so that their brain cells could be activated by shining light on them a technique called optogenetics. Next they trained the mice to recognize a signal generated by light activation of six glomeruli known to resemble a pattern evoked by an odor by giving them a water reward only when they perceived the correct "odor" and pushed a lever.

If mice pushed the lever after activation of a different set of glomeruli (simulation of a different odor), they received no water. Using this model, the researchers changed the timing and mix of activated glomeruli, noting how each change impacted a mouse's perception as reflected in a behavior: the accuracy with which it acted on the synthetic odor signal to get the reward.

Specifically, researchers found that changing which of the glomeruli within each odor-defining set were activated first led to as much as a 30 percent drop in the ability of a mouse to correctly sense an odor signal and obtain water. Changes in the last glomeruli in each set came with as little as a 5 percent decrease in accurate odor sensing.

The timing of the glomeruli activations worked together "like the notes in a melody," say the researchers, with delays or interruptions in the early "notes" degrading accuracy. Tight control in their model over when, how many, and which receptors and glomeruli were activated in the mice, enabled the team to sift through many variables and identify which odor features stood out.

"Now that we have a model for breaking down the timing and order of glomeruli activation, we can examine the minimum number and kind of receptors needed by the olfactory bulb to identify a particular smell," says study senior investigator and neurobiologist Dmitry Rinberg, PhD.

Rinberg, an associate professor at NYU Langone and its Neuroscience Institute, says the human nose is known to have some 350 different kinds of odor receptors, while mice, whose sense of smell is far more specialized, have more than 1,200.

"Our results identify for the first time a code for how the brain converts sensory information into perception of something, in this case an odor," adds Rinberg. "This puts us closer to answering the longstanding question in our field of how the brain extracts sensory information to evoke behavior."

This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

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"Synthetic Smells" Help Reveal How the Brain Perceives Odor - Technology Networks

Neuroscience

Overcoming the psychological impact of Sleep in the time of a Pandemic – Doral Family Journal

By: Leslie Ruiz M.S. Doctoral Candidate Albizu University &

Dr. Isaac Tourgeman Assistant Professor Albizu University/ Clinical Neuropsychologist Design Neuroscience Center

During such unprecedented times, feelings of anxiety, stress, and lack of control are on the rise. Recognizing how these feelings not only affect our mood, but our sleep is imperative to our health. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented us with an overload of information and uncertainty that has made even sleep stressful. Recently, an increased number of people have shared persistent sleep disturbances or sleep dissatisfaction.

While the diagnosis of a sleep disorder requires a multi-dimensional assessment, the significance attributed to sleep disruption is more frequent when individuals are presented with adverse events. Currently, our arousal is increased beyond normal throughout the day with fear, anxiety, or other negative emotions caused by the novel Coronavirus. As this increased arousal continues through the night, there is excessive activation of the brain resulting in deregulation. The concern then becomes how our bodys deregulated sleep cycle begins to affect us. Cognitive distortions, panic, and in extreme cases, even hallucinations may develop as this arousal becomes more deregulated. As a result, persistent sleep disruption develops, and the ability to fall asleep at the desired time and awaken at a conventionally acceptable time becomes increasingly more difficult.

In an attempt to relieve excessive sleepiness or fatigue throughout the day, one may take frequent naps or consume high amounts of caffeine to regulate this pattern. However, an alteration of the bodys circadian rhythm develops. The circadian rhythm is essentially the bodys internal clock and is responsible for the alignment between our physical environment and stabilizing sleep/wakefulness. The bodys internal clock is regulated by light, melatonin, and activity. When the bodys internal clock is irregular, the results are immediate and long-term negative effects.

The Relationship Between Sleep Deprivation and Mental Health

There is no denying the negative effects sleep deprivation has on the body and mental health. Sleep disorders are often linked to various physical health problems. These changes in sleep patterns interfere with the ability of healthy aging and development.

Persistent patterns of poor or irregular sleep habits contribute to a vicious cycle of stress about sleep and incidences of stress-related symptoms such as headaches, muscle tension, or gastrointestinal discomfort. More importantly, the risk of emerging psychiatric disorders may become more prevalent.

Disorders such as Insomnia can lead to a progression of a first depressive episode.

Significant dysfunction or impairments in social, occupational, or other areas of functioning also develop. Consequences of persistent Insomnia include poor concentration, reduced productivity, increased anxiety, irritableness, and other reduced quality of life factors. Other grave consequences of Insomnia disorder can include a high risk of substance abuse, coronary heart disease, diabetes, or other chronic pain conditions.

Good Sleep Habits

While our lives are currently being impacted, maintaining our sleep quality is imperative for our psychological and physical health. Maintaining a regulated sleep cycle helps reduce negative physiological responses caused by stress and fear. Additionally, sleep plays a significant role in our cognitive process. In a few words, a good nights sleep improves all aspects of our health. Establishing a good sleep routine helps preserve a sense of consistency during challenging times while facilitating our eventual transition back to normalcy. Although six to eight hours of sleep per night is the recommended amount by experts, the amount of sleep an individual may need varies. The following are activities and recommendations to promote a healthy sleep cycle:

When to Contact a Professional

While you do not have to be in a crisis to seek professional help, if you or someone you know is having difficulty coping with life stressors, a mental health disorder, or feeling suicidal, it is important to seek help immediately. Know that you are not alone, and mental health professionals are available to assist with effective treatment.

At Design Neuroscience Center we have integrated telehealth services across all our specialties to meet the needs of current times and ensure patient safety. For more information, call us 305-653-5155, or visit http://www.dncneurology.com/

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Overcoming the psychological impact of Sleep in the time of a Pandemic - Doral Family Journal

Human Behavior

Human Behavior And How It Impacts Your Finances – Forbes

Getty

Decisions regarding finances are often most consequential when we are busy, troubled, and flat out overwhelmed.In the past few months, many investors have made tough choices on the things most important to their financial goals, and this will likely remain in the months ahead. A large portion of the population is struggling to feed their family, let alone contemplating large life expenses such as buying homes, cars, saving for college or retirement and so forth.So the question ishow does decision making change during these times?Or, how often do investors choose to do nothing and ride out the storm?And, is that the right decision?This is where diagnosing your own decision making can help improve the chances of creating better outcomes in the midst of the chaos that is life.

We want to make easy decisions, which is how habits are formed.Think about where you would sit for dinner at home, order from a restaurant, or buy coffee.The booth by the window, the #9 at the lunch place, and a breakfast blend with 2 sugars and no cream.Habits are easy to keep and even more difficult to change.Are habits always what we really want to be doing?The benefit of these routines is that they dramatically decrease the amount of decisions that are necessary to make in a day.Habits fortunately are maintained with little mental effort involved, which is why they are so easy to repeat.

These easy decisions fit within our behavior and intuition when we are confronted with multiple, new choices.

If a coffee and donut cost $1.10 together and the donut costs $1.00 more than the coffee.How much does the coffee cost?

Many immediately answer with 10 cents, its intuition and automatic thinking. When you take a moment to think through the problem and do the math, you see the coffee is 5 cents.Our habits, gut instinct, and quick thinking can lead us to decisions that feel right initially but when you look back on the choices and slow down you see you could have done things differently.

Investors find themselves in these situations frequently these days.Is it time to sell?Is it time to take risk?Is it time to stay the course?The common response to the questions are usually a part of quick thinking and habits that have been learned along the way.

If an investor is holding on to a position thats down 20 percent from its original value.How willing are they to hang on to that investment to see it back to a profit?Generally, investors are risk takers when they see losses recover to break even.Is that the investment thats most likely to return the best going forward?Or, should they look for alternatives?

If an investor is at all-time highs in their accounts.How quickly will losses affect how they feel about their portfolio?Does that cause and investor to sell to keep what they had gained?Investors are generally risk averse with gains theyve created to protect them.

As the markets, policies, and needs for the investor change does it make sense to just do nothing?Is what they have the right thing for the current markets?Are they taking too much risk?Are they on track for what they need?The inefficiencies with quick decision making have measurable impact on performance over time.

From 1990-2016, an individual investor on average lost 1.6% on returns against equity benchmarks and 1.3% against bonds each year.A person who owned a mix of stocks and bonds typically underperforms by 1.8% in that same time frame, according to a 2017 report from Advisor Perspectives.

Investing is a coordination between your financial goals, the amount youve saved, and the time to grow those assets to reach said goals. This means they must slow down and consider all the parts of an investment decision to give yourself the best chance to reach the ultimate vision of success.

Continue to ask yourself the tough questions, like how much risk is needed to realize my goals. How do investors adapt to changes in markets and policies to keep their money moving in the right direction?Has a plan been created and written down to help an investor stay disciplined to their goals?

The more we can slow down our thinking and consider our financial choices, the more we can objectively make decisions and hopefully lead to a better outcome.

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Human Behavior And How It Impacts Your Finances - Forbes

Human Behavior

Letter to the Editor: The human nature dilemma – Northern Virginia Daily

Editor:

There seems to be no one, regardless of political stripe or racial creed, who is OK with the actions of police officer Derek Chauvin as they relate to the death of George Floyd on May 25. We all see it as a human behavior that was despicably cruel and unjust under the moral standards that we expect from a police officer. We see it as a behavioral dilemma that should never be accepted.

And we wonder what could have been going on in Mr. Chauvin's mind as the event transitioned from arrest and submission to tragic death. What could have justified such behavior? Was it racial hatred, mental imbalance or simply some very poor judgment regarding human frailty?

As always, there will be questions about why it happened and what should be done to prevent a recurrence. Further investigation and police reform currently lead the list of efforts needed to prevent such tragedies but bad apples are a part of human nature as were the ethos and mindset of Derek Chauvin and others like him.

Of the 800,000 police officers in the United States, the overwhelming majority are considerate, well trained and professional. There's another one tenth of one percent that are sometimes inconsiderate and unprofessional but unfortunately that may never change because human nature is not a constant. Human nature is different for each individual and it changes constantly. There are and always will be a few bad apples among us even as they seem to be like everyone else.

I sincerely hope that laws are passed by Congress and that changes are made within police training facilities to weed out the bad apples and further enhance the services provided by police departments across America. With police reform and continued oversight, policing services, which are vital to the security of all Americans, should improve, but I doubt that we will ever see the perfection we expect simply because of the dilemma we call human nature.

Leroy Donald, Stephens City

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Letter to the Editor: The human nature dilemma - Northern Virginia Daily

Human Behavior

Coloradans are nearly moving around at pre-pandemic levels. Will a second coronavirus wave follow? – The Colorado Sun

In Larimer County, as June barrels into July and Colorado nears the end of its fourth month mired in the coronavirus pandemic, Colorado State University professor Jude Bayham has noticed a trend: There are a lot more people visiting restaurants than there were in April and May.

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This observation comes not so much from his personal life as from his professional one. Bayham is an economist who studies avoidance behavior how people respond to known risks. During the pandemic, he has become one of the experts looking at mobility data for the states epidemiological modeling team, the group that is creating predictions about how the virus will spread so that policymakers like Gov. Jared Polis can decide how to respond. Bayham charts these mobility numbers on graphs comparing them to mobility patterns from 2019.

And what he has seen in the last couple of weeks is clear. Coloradans across much of the state are almost back to moving around at pre-pandemic levels. At restaurants, salons and clothing stores, Coloradans in many counties are approaching near-normal levels of activity.

There is clearly an increase in these mobility measures, however you want to cut it, Bayham said. People are spending more time out in public.

The trend comes as Colorado increasingly allows the reopening of businesses seen as among the riskiest for spread of the coronavirus places like casinos and bars, both of which are now able to operate at limited capacity.

And it also comes as states that began reopening their economies around the same time as Colorado are seeing worrying spikes in COVID-19 cases. In a recent Twitter thread, Andy Slavitt, the former Obama administration health official who has become a wonky celebrity for his nightly pandemic summaries, lumped Colorado with 13 other states in a group he called the rabbits the states that reopened first. Through mid-June, the rabbits had seen a 26% increase in case growth, he wrote. Only two states in the group Colorado and Indiana had defied the trend and seen their daily case numbers decline.

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On Friday, Dr. Rachel Herlihy, Colorados state epidemiologist, said health officials here are watching case spikes in neighboring states like Arizona and Utah warily.

The modeling data has been quite favorable in Colorado recently, she said. But we certainly are being cautious. We know from the experience of those states that were really dependent on human behavior.

An outbreak last week of more than 100 new cases in Boulder tied to University Hill parties and anti-racism protests has pushed Colorados numbers slightly higher in recent days and shows how quickly the virus could surge anew.

But, when the state released its daily case counts Friday, the numbers continued to show good news overall. Hospitalizations for COVID-19 have dropped to their lowest number since March. The rate of people testing positive for the virus remained below public health benchmarks.

So, as Colorado continues to reopen while avoiding a second wave of the virus, it raises a question: Are we actually good at coronavirus life or are we just lucky?

I think were both, said Dr. Mark Johnson, the executive director of Jefferson County Public Health. And I think we dont know the answer to that question.

Experts say that people moving around more is not necessarily a bad thing. Its all about how people move around.

It doesnt matter so much what the government does in terms of relaxing stay-at-home measures if people are still adhering to the guidelines, said Dr. Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore. If people are wearing masks and maintaining social distance, then you wouldnt expect to see a huge increase in cases as things reopen.

So it may be, Toner added, that Coloradans are just really good people and are following advice.

Bayham, the CSU prof, agreed that could be the case. The mobility figures he looks at only capture where people go and for how long. They dont show what people do when they get where they are going.

The data are collected from a sample of mobile devices smartphones, mostly, but also smart watches and similar gear. The figures are anonymized, meaning they are stripped of identification information, and then they are also aggregated at the census block level. Bayham said he cant track any individual persons movements nor does he want to. The value is in the big picture.

Early on in the pandemic, Bayham said the connection between mobility and viral transmission was really clear. The more people moved around, the more the virus spread.

But, after a big crash in mobility around the time Polis issued the statewide stay-at-home order, the state has actually been seeing increasing mobility since late-April, Bayham said. And, this time, increased movement didnt closely correspond with increased viral transmission.

Bayham said this is likely because people in Colorado are venturing forth into a changed world. They are more cautious. The places they are visiting are cleaner. Everything is better geared toward stopping the virus.

For instance, while visits to restaurants have almost returned to normal in many places, Bayham said its possible that the visits now are mostly quick stops to pick up takeout as opposed to longer visits for eat-in dining, pre-pandemic. (He hopes to dig deeper into this question soon.)

You can think about these mobility patterns as a pre-condition for transmission, Bayham said. Its necessary for transmission to occur. But just because people are in a place where the virus is present is not sufficient for transmission.

Toner said the states that havent kept control of the virus after reopening have a few things in common. They tend to have weaker health systems where many people struggle to access care. While Colorado has specifically tried to get coronavirus testing sites into underprivileged communities, other states have not.

And Colorados weather also may play a factor, Toner said. We are a state that generally goes outdoors in the summer instead of huddling inside in the air-conditioning to avoid oppressive heat and humidity. The risk of transmission is dramatically lower outdoors, Toner said.

But one trait stands above the rest.

I think the states that are doing poorly now are the states where their governors have been more relaxed about public health messaging, more eager to open things up, and not strictly adhering to the guidance about the pace at which things should open up, Toner said.

And a big part of that public health messaging the elasticized flashpoint in the latest public health culture war is encouraging people to wear masks. Ever since he donned one at a news conference in the first week of April, Polis has been a frequent and fervent champion of the face mask.

The science on homemade masks and coronavirus is still a work in progress, said May Chu, an internationally renowned disease researcher who teaches at the Colorado School of Public Health. But she said the overwhelming consensus is that wearing masks in public is safer than not.

She put the benefit at a few percentage points of difference. If a person in a given situation has a 25% chance of being infected by the coronavirus, Chu said wearing a mask might knock the risk down closer to 20%. But thats only if people are also washing their hands and following distancing guidelines.

If you dont do all the other practices, its probably not statistically significant, she said.

And homemade masks can actually be quite good. Think of the now-familiar N95 masks as being 95% efficient, she said. The throw-away surgical masks that doctors often wear are about 30% efficient. But a homemade mask with enough layers of the right material could get to 50% efficiency.

Its why shes a big believer that diligent mask-wearing can make a meaningful impact as life returns to normal-ish. And, though she said there is no detailed data on Coloradans mask-wearing behavior, she said shes been encouraged seeing widespread adoption when she goes out in public.

Within the community, wearing a mask should be a sign of respectfulness, Chu said. You are respecting the dangers (the virus) might cause to others.

Johnson, with Jefferson County Public Health, praised Polis for making decisions based on data and science including promoting mask-wearing. That doesnt mean hes not a little nervous about Colorados reopening economy. Johnson said he wished the state had moved more incrementally instead of reopening large chunks at once which will make it more difficult to know what is to blame if cases spike.

It appears that some of the things that opened up quicker were because people screamed the loudest, he said.

But Johnson also said everybody is learning as they go. And, as the states reopening goes right now, its so far, so good.

People are going to be studying this for at least the next 100 years, he said, trying to figure out what did we do right and what did we do wrong.

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Coloradans are nearly moving around at pre-pandemic levels. Will a second coronavirus wave follow? - The Colorado Sun

Human Behavior

In new documentary, ‘rewilding’ a home painstakingly crafted in the Alaska Bush – Anchorage Daily News

This week, 360 North will screen Rewilding Kernwood, the concluding documentary in a trilogy by Jean Aspen and Tom Irons. Their story is one of the many family tales about leaving civilization to build a cabin and live in the Alaska Bush. Because of the way they lived and how they left, this story is unlike any other.

It begins with Aspens early childhood in the wilderness. My belonging to wild places and the urge to explore my dreams was a legacy from my parents, Aspen said in a recent interview.

Her story was featured in a story in the 1953 issue of Life Magazine (Back Home to the Arctic: A couple that fought wilderness now embrace it and settle down). One full-page photo pictured 2-year-old Aspen on snowshoes, toddling behind her mother. In another, she watches her father skin a polar bear at the familys camp on the pack ice. She was also featured in the 1953 documentary Jeanie of Alaska, shown on national lecture tours.

The filmmakers were her parents, Bud and Constance Helmericks. Readers of Alaska adventure know the Helmericks through their books about their explorations in Alaskas remote Brooks Range and along the North Coast, including Connies 1944 book, We live in Alaska, and Buds 1969 The Last of the Bush Pilots.

In 1972, Aspen took a break from college and with her boyfriend, Phil Beisel, canoed down the Yukon River and lined upriver into the Brooks Range, where they built a cabin and lived off the land for almost four years. It was through her book about this experience, Arctic Daughter: A Wilderness Journey that I first came to know her. She told me that she chose the name Aspen, because unlike spruce trees, aspens are always changing.

In 1990, Aspen, her husband Tom Irons and their 4-year-old son Lucas paddled down Aspens familiar old river, stopping to visit her old cabin site. Around campfires, they talked about their dreams. One evening, camped at a spot they would later call Kernwood, and they imagined returning to build a cabin.

There were good reasons to leave the idea of living in the Bush to the realm of memory and dream. Irons was 44 and had never lived in the wilderness; Aspen was 40, soft and a bit chubby now. They had little in the way of savings and would have to sell much of what they owned. Letting go of security was like prying my fingers from a ledge, Aspen said. The venture didnt seem sensible, But we burned our bridges and never looked back, Irons said.

They returned in the spring of 1992 for a year-and-a-half sojourn. A chartered bush plane flew them to Kernwood with everything theyd need for building a woodcutters cottage out of a fairytale. But this time, We didnt come to live off the land, Jean said, but to live with it.

The family decided to cut no living trees an ethic they lived by for the next 26 years. Over those years they would have to travel further and further upriver to find and cut the right trees, carry them to the river, then raft them back to Kernwood. Their standard required more work and strain on aging bodies, but the effort provided the satisfaction of minimizing their effect on the community of life here, of which we became a part.

The family brought most of their food with them but caught grayling and pike and harvested six moose over the years. Wildlife became accustomed to their presence and seemed to be drawn into their yard. A pair of weasels would scamper over their feet and follow them around. Gray jays landed on their shoulders. For nearly 20 years, a raven family, the Blackhearts, were their curious neighbors. A white wolf sometimes denned across the river. They lived in respectful peace with Goldilocks, a grizzly bear who occasionally investigated their yard. When one lives harmlessly in nature, Jean said, the land knows.

Baking shed at Kernwood (Photo from Jean Aspen and Tom Irons)

While preparing for the move, the couple had borrowed money to buy professional video equipment and taught themselves to use it. They wanted to share their experiences and whatever insights might emerge. Arctic Daughter: A Lifetime of Wilderness and Arctic Son: Fulfilling the Dream are the first two of what has become a trilogy of documentaries. All chronicle life in the wilderness, but their message is more about families, dreams and living purposefully. We hope to inspire others to live authentic lives, honor the Earth, and be kind to one another, Aspen said

Between stays at Kernwood, Aspen finished a nursing degree and worked as a travel nurse. Irons worked in hospice. At 17, their son Lucas set out to obtain a degree in nursing, later taking a position in Washington. Irons and Aspen settled into a rural Alaskan community with a small hospital, where Aspen got a job that enabled them to return to the river every summer.

But each year, their knees and backs sent more reminders that the couples days of carrying logs, hauling water and backpacking the high ridges were limited. The time was coming when the demands of Bush life would exceed their capabilities.

When Aspen and Beisel left their cabin in 1976, they had followed the old Alaskan standard of leaving it set up for others to use. However, when Aspens family floated by, they were saddened to find the deteriorating cabin surrounded by gas cans and the trash of airplane hunters. They shuddered to think of that future for Kernwood.

Alaska has become a different place and its a different world now, Aspen said. In the 1970s, she seldom saw planes. Now, every fall, hunters and hunting guides arrive in numbers: flying the river, spotting game and sometimes illegally shooting the same day or wasting meat. Irons and Aspen reported violations and cleaned up messy camps along the river. We became concerned that Kernwood would be used as a portal for exploiting the area, Irons said.

The Kernwood cabin site after restoration (Photo from Jean Aspen and Tom Irons)

Jean Aspen during the deconstruction of Kernwood (Photo from Jean Aspen and Tom Irons)

Tom Irons during the deconstruction of Kernwood (Photo from Jean Aspen and Tom Irons)

And humans are rapidly changing the planet, Aspen added. Tom and I came to view our relationship with Kernwood from this larger perspective. The couple tells of how the river and creek have warmed, ice is forming later, theres more smoke from forest fires, the permafrost is melting, and muskegs and ponds are drying up. Human behavior is degrading the systems that support life, Aspen said. We need to recognize that we each change the world by the choices we make.

In the summer of 2015 these concerns led Tom and Jean to a decision: They would rewild Kernwood, then leave. We decided to give the land back to itself, Tom said. Rewilding meant dismantling the cabin and other structures they had painstakingly built, removing everything not natural to the area and replanting the ground with sod from the roofs.

I visited Kernwood, and mentioned that it seemed a shame to tear down such beautiful work. Irons had become an artist with logs; seldom had a bush cabin exhibited such whimsy and artistry. It was a bittersweet decision, he explained. Yes, well miss our life here, he said, looking out over the river. But dreams have a lifespan. We feel it is our responsibility to restore the areas wildness while we are still physically able.

In 2016 they began by taking down the storehouse. The following year they dismantled their cabin, and by the fall of 2018 the bakehouse/smokehouse, outdoor kitchen and outhouse were all gone. They pulled every nail and backed out every screw. Logs with spikes that couldnt be pulled with a crowbar were split and burned for firewood. Others were carried down to the river so, as Irons said, they could continue the journey we interrupted when we borrowed them. They were carried, not dragged, because the vegetation here is delicate and heals slowly.

They carefully cut sod from the roofs and used it to revegetate areas where the buildings had stood. Aspen spent countless hours on hands and knees preparing the disturbed ground by burying cabin logs with wet composted sawdust, chinking moss and dirt. Then she meticulously fit each piece of sod over the irregular surface to restore the tundra mat. A few rotting logs were carefully inserted to mimic nature and support growth.

During their final years, they flew out about 8,000 pounds of supplies, metal, tools, and books for recycling and reuse, using each flight that came in to also take things out. Nothing that wasnt native to the area was left behind. We never had a trash pile, Irons said, and we were always careful about what we brought in.

Handcrafted rocking chair left behind at the Kernwood cabin site (Photo from Jean Aspen and Tom Irons)

On July 24, 2018, they floated downriver one last time. Now, its hard to tell that Kernwood had once existedexcept for one thing: facing the place where the cabin had been, a rocking chair, crafted from a single dead tree, remains. I couldnt bring myself to take it apart, Irons said, so we left it as a memento to the years we spent there. Its only wood, so it will return to the Earth.

We should strive to enrich the future, not use it up, Aspen said. The children of tomorrow dont need our moldering edifices. They need a healthy, living world in which to envision their own dreams.

ReWilding Kernwood will be aired on 360 North at 8 p.m., June 24 and 4 p.m., June 25.

For more of Jean Aspen and Tom Irons:

Their earlier documentaries are available at jeanaspen.com. Also available are Aspens books, Arctic Daughter, Arctic Son, and Trusting the River. Aspen is currently working to get six of her mothers early books back into print.

[Because of a high volume of comments requiring moderation, we are temporarily disabling comments on many of our articles so editors can focus on the coronavirus crisis and other coverage. We invite you to write a letter to the editor or reach out directly if youd like to communicate with us about a particular article. Thanks.]

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In new documentary, 'rewilding' a home painstakingly crafted in the Alaska Bush - Anchorage Daily News

Human Behavior

Secret Philly: When Rittenhouse Square was the city’s Gayborhood – Billy Penn

Love Philly? Sign up for the free Billy Penn email newsletter to get everything you need to know about Philadelphia, every day.

Phillys Gayborhood as we now know it lives in Center City just east of Broad. From roughly Chestnut to Pine streets, crosswalks are painted with rainbows and street corners are dotted with gay bars and nonprofits.

While theres ongoing debate about the authenticity of the LGBTQ district plus constant concerns about racism and gentrification its indisputable that the Wash West enclave is known as Phillys queer mecca. But that wasnt always the case.

In the 1950s and 60s, LGBTQ Philadelphians concentrated somewhere else. A half mile west, on the other side of Broad Street, Rittenhouse Square was once the citys gay moment.

Back then, the citys gay nightlife revolved around the park. Men strolled the streets late at night looking for dates. The first Pride march in 1972 started there.

So prominent were gay people in Rittenhouse that when nightlife spots opened up, straight people lamented there was just as good a chance itd be a gay bar as a straight one. I wonder if well be able to go there, a resident mused about a new taproom in a May 1974 Inquirer article.

This is a story about Phillys Gayborhood of yesteryear the nightlife scene, the creativity of romantic pursuit, the way it made straight people shudder and the dramatic lengths local officials went to eradicate queer Philadelphia. (Spoiler: They even used traffic signage.)

That early 1970s Inquirer article described heterosexual people as a minority in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. It was a few years after Stonewall in New York City, and the continuous presence of LGBTQ people was becoming obvious to straight people especially in one of Center Citys wealthier sectors.

The nightlife scene around the Square became notorious. News organizations called it twilight life when the sun went down and queer men and women would hit the bars in search acceptance, a good time, and maybe some action.

Saturday night is the gayest night of the week, read a 1962 story on the Rittenhouse queer scene in Greater Philadelphia Magazine. They come from all parts of the city, from the suburbs, from as far away as Reading and Atlantic City.

So many gay men started setting up camp in the area south of the park that straight people referred to them as the Spruce Street boys.

In some ways, this was a Gayborhood much like the one that exists today: white gay men were the most accepted, and everyone else experienced additional levels of prejudice. Many lesbians and Black queer people purposely lived in neighborhoods like Germantown or North Philly instead.

For what it was, Rittenhouse Squares gay scene was popular. And naturally, along with a convergence of queer people came homophobia and discrimination.

At best, their straight neighbors gawked. As seen in newspaper archives, one remarked to a reporter how silly gay men looked while rollerskating; another said they overheard some queer people discussing gender confirmation surgery. At worst, they wanted those people gone.

These f-s are taking over Philadelphia, one Spruce Street pharmacist told the Inquirer.

At the time, homophobia was deeply ingrained in local government.

Under Mayor Frank Rizzo, the city put up signage around Rittenhouse Square to discourage gay people from cruising aka driving around the park to find dates.

The signs prohibited left turns from 21st onto Delancey Street between midnight and 5 a.m. Even then-Deputy Streets Commissioner John Scruggs told the Inquirer he thought it was an overreach: Its kind of stretching it to think you can regulate human behavior with a traffic sign.

But the sign never came down yes, its literally still up today and Phillys queer community slowly but surely migrated eastward.

In 1976, Philly opened its first gay community center near 3rd and South Street. The building, which would later be called the William Way Community Center and move to 13th and Spruce, pulled Philadelphias queer community across Broad Street.

Owners of gay bars with mob ties paid off police to leave them alone, and the nightlife scene survived, dubbed Lurid Locust by local news organizations.

Federal funding dried up in the 1960s for planned redevelopment in the Washington Square West area. Construction stalled on the Vine Street Expressway. Both abandoned projects left plenty of vacant lots where gambling, prostitution and drug dealing flourished.

The downturn didnt last. In the 80s, queer people pumped their own efforts into the area. A gay business owners association formed. In 1995, the Gayborhood got its official name during an Outfest celebration under then-Mayor Ed Rendell. In the years to come, rainbow crosswalks and flags were proudly put on display. Wealthier residents moved in, contributing to gentrification.

These days, parts of the neighborhood, which is filled to the brim with buzzy restaurants, go by Midtown Village instead. Several flourishing gay bars, bookstores, gyms and community centers remain.

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Secret Philly: When Rittenhouse Square was the city's Gayborhood - Billy Penn

Human Behavior

Steve Bucknor accepts his incorrect decisions against Sachin Tendulkar, says those were mistakes – The Financial Express

Steve Bucknor accepts mistakes: Umpire Steve Bucknor, of the infamous Bucknor-Benson umpiring duo that was in the eye of the storm during the controversial 2008 Sydney Test between India and Australia, has been accused by many cricket fans in his umpiring career, but it was a couple of his decisions against Sachin Tendulkar that still haunt him. Recalling those two occasions when he had judged the batting legend out, Bucknor said that such judgments live with the umpires and their careers could be massively hit due to such instances. However, Bucknor, who was considered among the top umpires in the 2000s, said that in his view no umpire would want to do a wrong thing and that error in judgment is a psrt of the human behavior.

Tendulkar was given out on two different occasions when those were mistakes. I do not think any umpire would want to do a wrong thing. It lives with him and his future could be jeopardised, Bucknor said on Mason and Guests radio programme.

One of the two mistakes that Bucknor has pointed out as his mistakes were the decisions to give Sachin out LBW against Australia at the Gabba in 2003 while the other error being the caught-behind decision against Pakistan.

At the Gabba in 2003, Tendulkar had left a Jason Gillespies delivery that had pitched outside the off stump. Tendulkar may have misjudged the movement of the ball, but given Gabbas reputation of being a bouncy pitch, it was not criminal of Sachin to have left the delivery. The ball jagged back and hit Tendulkars pad and after an appeal, Bucknor nodded in his typical manner and raised his finger to send Tendulkar back to the pavilion.

In 2005, Tendulkar was given out caught behind off the bowling of Abdul Razzaq. He was well settled at the crease when Bucknor adjudged him out while the replay clearly indicated that there was a gap between his bat and the ball. Bucknor, however, has blamed his inability to hear the sound properly and said that at the Eden Gardens, if India is batting, you hear nothing.

Like Bucknor says, to err is human, but when that error in judgment leaves an enormous impact on the outcome of the game you are adjudicating, it can tarnish your reputation permanently.

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Steve Bucknor accepts his incorrect decisions against Sachin Tendulkar, says those were mistakes - The Financial Express