Genetics

Genes and diet can play a role in developing Type 2 diabetes – Norton Healthcare

Type 2 diabetes is genetic in the sense that you may inherit a predisposition to the disease, but not the disease itself. Put another way, a high-fat and high-cholesterol diet and lack of exercise can trigger diabetes in some people, but not others.

Type 2 diabetes runs in families partly because of genetics and partly because children often learn bad habits like poor diet and lack of exercise from their parents. There also is a genetic component to obesity.

Even if you are genetically prone to diabetes, you can delay or prevent it by making healthy food choices, exercising and losing weight.

Heredity and the habits we grew up with help explain why African American adults are 60% more likely than non-Hispanic white adults to be diagnosed with diabetes and twice as likely to die from diabetes, said Steven Patton, D.O., family medicine physician with Norton Community Medical Associates Preston.

Diabetes has its own complications that develop gradually. They include:

Your risk for Type 2 diabetes will determine whether you should have your blood sugar checked as frequently as once per year. If increased blood sugar levels are detected early, losing weight or medication will have a better chance of keeping diabetes at bay.

Checking your blood sugar for signs of diabetes is a simple blood test, and the results are available quickly, especially if youve signed up for a free MyNortonChart account.

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Genetics

Medscape study in collaboration with 23andMe finds Primary Care Physicians are increasingly more comfortable with direct-to-consumer genetic health…

"This study highlights a significant shift in how primary care physicians view DTC genetic health testing."

The report also found 80 percent of PCPs are open or likely to recommend DTC genetic testing for health if asked about it by their patients, and for 61 percent of PCPs, FDA oversight of health reports was a necessary element of any DTC genetic test they might recommend.

"This study highlights a significant shift in how primary care physicians view DTC genetic health testing," said L. Okey Onyejekwe Jr., MD, JD, Vice President of Healthcare Operations and Medical Affairs at 23andMe. "In just two year's time, the data show PCPs are much more accepting, and in some cases wholeheartedly embracing this type of testing, especially tests that include health reports with FDA oversight. As more consumers turn to DTC genetic testing for health insights into their genome, it's encouraging to see that PCPs are much more open to patients bringing their test results into the clinic for further discussion and potential follow up testing when warranted."

When it comes to all genetic testing, not just DTC genetic testing, 71 percent of PCPs are comfortable making appropriate referrals to specialists based on genetic information, compared to 44 percent in 2018. Further, 46 percent of PCPs are comfortable ordering genetic testing, a four-fold increase from 2018, and 41 percent are comfortable using genetic information to make treatment decisions, a two-fold increase over 2018.

"The shift in the primary care community's point of view on genetic testing over a relatively short period of time is striking, and points to the tests results having greater utility and impact in patient care," said Hansa Bhargava, M.D., Medscape Senior Medical Director. "We are pleased that we could contribute to increasing awareness of the role of genetic testing in the primary care environment."

Methodology

This report was completed by 1,000 U.S. primary care physicians on the Medscape platform between August 26, 2020 and September 14, 2020. Ninety percent of respondents practice Family or Internal medicine and respondents have practiced an average of 19 years. Respondents were invited to respond to the online survey. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level is +/- 3.0%. The report is a follow-up to a 2018 report on the same topic, which was completed by 1,000 U.S. primary care physicians on the Medscape platform between October 25, 2018 and November 22, 2018.

About Medscape

Medscape is the leading source of clinical news, health information, and point-of-care tools for health care professionals. Medscape offers specialists, primary care physicians, and other health professionals the most robust and integrated medical information and educational tools. Medscape Education (medscape.org) is the leading destination for continuous professional development, consisting of more than 30 specialty-focused destinations offering thousands of free C.M.E. and C.E. courses and other educational programs for physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals. Medscape is a subsidiary of WebMD Health Corp.

About WebMD Health Corp.

WebMD Health Corp., an Internet Brands Company, is the leading provider of health information services, serving patients, physicians, health care professionals, employers, and health plans through public and private online portals, mobile platforms, and health-focused publications. The WebMD Health Network includes WebMD Health, Medscape, Jobson Healthcare Information, prIME Oncology, MediQuality, Frontline, Vitals Consumer Services, Aptus Health, MedicineNet, eMedicineHealth, RxList, OnHealth, Medscape Education, and other owned WebMD sites. WebMD, Medscape, CME Circle, Medpulse, eMedicine, MedicineNet, theheart.org, and RxList are among the trademarks of WebMD Health Corp. or its subsidiaries.

About 23andMe

23andMe, Inc. is the leading consumer genetics and research company. Founded in 2006, the mission of the company is to help people access, understand, and benefit from the human genome. 23andMe is the first direct-to-consumer company to receive FDA authorization for genetic health reports, and has millions of customers worldwide, with more than 80 percent of customers consented to participate in research. 23andMe, Inc. is located in Sunnyvale, CA. More information is available at http://www.23andMe.com.

SOURCE 23andMe

https://www.23andme.com/en-ca/

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Medscape study in collaboration with 23andMe finds Primary Care Physicians are increasingly more comfortable with direct-to-consumer genetic health...

Genetics

Misrepresentation of self-reported drinking and genetic studies – RACGP

News

New research investigates whether misreporting and changes in behaviour can prejudice the results of genetic studies on alcohol consumption.

It is well known that modifying behaviours and lifestyle can serve as risk or protective factors for common diseases.Alcohol consumption presents one of the most common harms, particularly for increased risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases and mental health. A number of large-scale epidemiological studieson alcohol consumption conclude that no level of alcohol consumption improves health.But according to new research, this conclusion may contradict negative estimates of the genetic link between alcohol consumption and some diseases including obesity, major depressive disorder, Parkinsons disease, and type 2 diabetes as reported in recent genome-wide association studies identifying numerous genetic variants associated with human behavioural traits.It is also contradictory to the protective effects of moderate drinking reported in observational studies.The recently published observational study found genetic studies that rely on self-reported drinking may be biased by misreporting and changes in behaviour. The study found conflicting results from some genetic studies in that people with genetic-based tendencies towards drinking alsohave lower rates of somediseases, suggesting a possibleprotective effect of alcohol against disease.One possible explanation the authors found was that patients with a disease may change their alcohol consumption upon diagnosis, or misreport their alcohol consumption in a survey.According to the authors, behavioural traits are subject to misreports and longitudinal changes, and misreports are common in self-reported data setsbut often overlooked in genetic analyses. This can cause biases in genome-wide association studies and follow-up analyses.These misreports are mainly attributed tosocial desirability, when the tendency for participants to answer questions is in ways that make them viewed favourably by others, and recall bias, when the accuracy and completeness of past events recalled by participants are influenced by subsequent events that they experienced.It is hoped the study findings will help explain conflicting reports about the link between alcohol consumption and certain diseases.Using data from 455,607 individuals in the UK Biobank, the researchers investigated biases due to misreports and longitudinal changes in genetic analyses of self-reported behavioural traits, including alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, and physical activities, without correcting for misreporting or changes in behaviour.Their findings were negative genetic correlations between alcohol consumption and type 2 diabetes, hypertensive disease and iron deficient anaemias. After correcting for misreporting and behavioural changes, the negative correlations disappeared and they found positive correlations with eight different conditions, including cardiovascular disease and total disease count.Our studies demonstrate that individuals with higher disease burden in the UK Biobank are more likely to misreport or reduce their alcohol consumption levels, and propose a correction procedure to mitigate the misreports and longitudinal changes-induced biases, the authors wrote.The alcohol consumption genome-wide association studies signals removed by the misreports and longitudinal changes corrections are enriched in metabolic/cardiovascular traits. Almost all the previously reported negative estimates of genetic correlations between alcohol consumption and common diseases become positive/non-significant after the misreports and longitudinal changes corrections.Another important source of bias noted by the authors is the change in amount of alcohol consumption during the life course, for reasons such as changes in health status. For example, if people change their level of alcohol consumption because they are affected by a disease, the diagnosis will give rise to a bias in observed or genetic relationship between alcohol consumption and the disease.The authors anticipate the results of this study will demonstrate the significance of potential biases in genetic studies of behavioural traits, and provide a method to correct them for future research. They do note, however, that this bias does not necessarily apply to all populations or behavioural traits.Our findings provide a plausible explanation of the controversy about the effects of alcohol consumption on health outcomes and a caution for future analyses of self-reported behavioural traits in biobank data, the authors wrote.Log in below to join the conversation.

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Human Behavior

Here’s why spite spreads in peopleand thrives in politics – News@Northeastern

Last week, a violent mob of Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol, seeking to delay certification of the 2020 presidential election results. The riot failed to achieve its goal, and dozens have been arrested and charged. Why did so many people risk their safety, their employment, and tarnish their criminal record for the purpose of harming others? One potential factor at play may be the infectious nature of spite.

Spite is a puzzling human behavior. Its the act of causing harm to another while gaining no benefit for ones self. And although it is costly to all involved, a new study finds that it is also highly contagious.

Left, Christoph Riedl, associate professor of information systems in the DAmore-McKim School of Business and Khoury College of Computer Sciences. Photo by Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University. Right, Rory Smead, associate professor of philosophy and the Ronald L. and Linda A. Rossetti Professor for the Humanities in Northeasterns College of Social Sciences & Humanities. Northeastern University file photo.

In a paper published yesterday in Nature Communications, Northeastern researchers provide a novel explanation for how spiteful behavior originates and spreads. Using a computational model that simulates human interactions, researchers observed spite spread throughout a dynamic network until every agent became spiteful, and cooperation ceased entirely.

Traditionally, mathematical models of human behavior have lacked an important component: they arent dynamic, meaning the simulated actors dont behave like real people do within real social circles. Old models were built on a uniform population that interacted randomly. This kept the math simple but made the network interactions unrealistic. The new dynamic model used in the study allows agents to choose whom they mingle with, like people do in real life.

The network structures we find in the simulation are similar to what we know human social networks look like, says Christoph Riedl, associate professor of information systems in the DAmore-McKim School of Business and Khoury College of Computer Sciences and co-author of the paper. The dynamic model is not random, its meaningful and realistic. It seems to pick up on how humans actually behave.

The model showed that spiteful agents targeted non-spiteful players, draining their resources so the spiteful agents looked better in comparison. This resulted in the initially non-spiteful agents realizing they were worse off and perpetuating the spite to get ahead. Researchers found that it continued to spread until there were no cooperative players left.

Spite is a net loss for everybody, but it changes the relative standings of individuals, says Rory Smead, associate professor of philosophy and the Ronald L. and Linda A. Rossetti Professor for the Humanities in Northeasterns College of Social Sciences & Humanities and co-author of the paper. Zachary Fulker, a PhD student in Northeasterns Network Science Institute, was the papers lead author.

That perceived relative advantage is what makes spite so infectious in human networks. Its also the reason spite thrives in politics.

Politics is often a zero-sum game. In order for you to win, the other guy has to lose, Smead says. Certain politicians may view these political interactions as situations in which cooperation is not possiblesituations in which they might be willing to pay costs in order to make sure the other side suffers even more. Its those relative tradeoffs where spite finds a home.

In political elections, it doesnt matter how many total votes are cast, only that one side gets more votes than the other. This is an environment ripe for spite.

If there is voter suppression and everyone gets fewer votes, thats not necessarily bad for me as long as I get more than you, Riedl says.

The outcome for a society infected by spite may look bleak, given how contagious this behavior can be. But understanding the obstacles that undermine cooperation can help get us closer to achieving it.

Its an important piece to the broader puzzle of how we can all get along better, says Smead.

For media inquiries, please contact media@northeastern.edu.

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Here's why spite spreads in peopleand thrives in politics - News@Northeastern

Human Behavior

We must understand the threat from within – The CT Mirror

I am a student of history and human behavior. I am the sole college educated member of my working class family who consider me a radical liberal and elitist. Clearly, they have aligned with right wing media who have branded those who share my political and social leanings.

Like many Americans, I am outraged by the violent attack on our Capitol, in the name of patriotism, but recognize it for what it is. While it was fomented by conspiratorial elements in our government, social media, and dangerous fringe groups, there is no conspiracy in believing that it was a heinous assault on our democratic process and the rule of law. We must see it for what it is.

There are those among us who threaten to destroy the fabric of this nation. Truth be told, these events are evidence that we are a nation, deeply divided, and that our republic, if we can keep it, remains vulnerable from within. It seems that the countermeasure to this threat is to assess how we got here, address the etiological factors, and commit to every possible measure to strengthen our democracy. This includes a better understanding of our nations ills.

While it is easy to dismiss the insurrectionists as thugs and misfits, let us consider that they may be a consequence of a society that has left them behind; sons and daughters of poverty, a failed education or mental health system, joblessness, technology, or social change, who perceive themselves as victims with few options. Clearly, Trump has played them, and seduced them into aligning with his own pathological view of victimization, manipulated them for his own political gain. That said, the villains of the recent insurrection are a threat to our democratic way of life, and must be accountable for their actions. We cannot allow laws to be violated, elections to be overturned by mobs, and the tenets of our Constitution to be defiled.

As a people, we must recognize the inequities in our society, and the deleterious impact on our citizens. If democracy is to survive into the next century, we must begin to address the consequences of economic disparity, racism, social injustice, hopelessness, and diminished opportunity, and mitigate these pernicious forces. Despite the historic roots of these problems, and contemporary factors that reinforce them, we must face the challenges of the future with new hope and commitment.

We need to work together to protect our democracy, and human rights, and to condemn the voices of division. We must also demand that our elected officials return civility to government and maintain their oath of office to protect our Constitution. Anything less is a betrayal of their country, voter rights, and the bedrock of a democratic nation.

Claire Walsh, a social worker, lives in Deep River.

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Human Behavior

What happened to flu season? Experts talk COVID-19, vaccines and more – KEZI TV

LANE COUNTY, Ore. -- As the talk of coronavirus dominates our daily conversation, some people are asking: what happened to the flu?

Dr. Brenda Ormesher is an Infectious Disease Physician with PeaceHealth Medical Group. She along with several other doctors KEZI 9 News spoke to said they have seen very low flu activity within the community.

The measures that we've put in place for COVID prevention have done a lot to help prevent the flu in Lane County, Ormesher said.

But thats not all.

We did have higher rates of vaccination this year compared to prior years, so that's excellent because more people have become engaged, Ormesher said. They've taken measures to help prevent the spread of influenza, and that community engagement has made such a big difference.

Dr. Patrick Luedtke with Lane County Public Health agrees.

We are of course attributing that really to human behavior, Luedtke said. People are wearing masks -- not 100% but they can still do better. Many of them are wearing masks. Secondly, people are avoiding these congregate settings where we typically pass it.

He said labs have shown a nearly 75% reduction in flu cases so far this year, but he said anything could happen.

We could still very well see a big peak in influenza in February, March or April, Luedtke said. "So people still have time to get protected, and we really want them to.

Luedtke said that in a typical year there is so much influenza that it is not a reportable disease. That would only change if officials noticed a novel strain.

In the 2019-2020 season, the CDC estimated 22,000 deaths from the flu. Across the country, many states have reported none so far.

Health officials have warned about the dangerous reality of coinfection -- thats an individual becoming infected with both COVID-19 and the flu. Ormesher said theyve only seen one case of that in a nursing home.

The flu shot is definitely important, even with low cases, Ormesher said. If we start seeing that spread in our community, in addition with COVID, that would be detrimental to the health care facility and it would be detrimental to the patients.

In Oregon, between Dec. 27 and Jan. 2 this season, there were 0.1% of positive flu tests.Last season, that number was at 26.6% in the same time span.

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What happened to flu season? Experts talk COVID-19, vaccines and more - KEZI TV

Human Behavior

What The CES All Digital Show Says About the Future – Nextgov

Last year I was unable to attend the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in person, but was fortunate enough to have a few colleagues covering the event. They sent back reports about the newest technology that would soon be populating inside our homes and offices. This year, however, nobody can get to the show because of the ongoing pandemic. Its gone completely virtual. On the bright side, that means that all of the keynotes are open to everyone who wants to stream them. A few companies have even set up virtual booths that you can visit without leaving your home.

The bad news is that the number of exhibitors is way down this year, with fewer than half as many as attended the last physical show in 2020. That makes my job for Nextgov a little bit more difficult. Its not always easy to pick out potential government technology at CES because its hyper-focused on consumer products like televisions. In the past, however, the sheer number of exhibitors, which could sometimes soar into the thousands, meant that spotting government trends or tech that government might be interested in was at least possible by wearing down the soles of your shoes wandering around the multi-level, maze-like complexes that hosted the show.

I didnt have to do any wandering this year, but there was also less to find. Even so, CES offered quite a few interesting nuggets that might hint at future government technology.

5G Will Finally Be Everywhere

In 2019, the concept of 5G was just starting to roll out, and companies were beginning to imagine what customers could do with bandwidth that was up to 25 times faster than was available at the time. Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg keynoted CES that yearand talked about the pending new technology almost as if it were magic. He was back this year to kick off the 2021 virtual show, but with many more real-world examples. According to Verizon, their 5G service is now available in 2,700 cities serving 230 million people.

At the show, images of blockbuster movies being downloaded over lightning-fast connections in seconds were highlighted, but government is already investing in more practical 5G projects, a trend that will continue as the technology proliferates. For example, much of the Department of Defenses digital modernization strategy will depend on 5G communications.

Its not just the speed that makes 5G useful in government and the DOD. The core of the 5G transport layer is almost fully comprised of software-defined networking technology. That gives the DOD a lot more control over its data and bandwidth. For example, by using network slicing, they can allocate bandwidth based on mission priorities going all the way out to the edge. That way something like a critical video feed coming in from a drone in a forward area can have more than enough bandwidth dedicated to it so that it can stream its feed in real-time without getting disrupted by other applications on the same network.

The intelligence community is also interested in similar projects relating to 5G. In September, the Defense Information Systems Agency released a request for information about how it could deploy dynamic spectrum sharing across a broad range of capabilities. Specifically, it wants to improve bandwidth allocation in the areas of training, readiness and lethality. The backbone of 5G is almost tailor-made to drive specific projects, giving greater control for both public networks and the more highly classified, closed environments used by the IC.

IoT Getting Back to Its Roots

Although 5G is driving many of the innovations on display at CES this year, the really interesting stuff stems from the innovative applications that use it. I wrote a lot about smart cities over the past few years, including some truly innovative towns that are really pushing the envelope on what is possible. One of the most advanced places was Peachtree Corners, Georgia, where much of the infrastructure is computer-controlled using internet of things sensors and artificial intelligence.

One of the main partners working in Peachtree Corners is Bosch, which installed many of the IoT sensors around town as well as the artificial intelligence that drives them. At CES this year, Bosch described their work in this area.

Bosch CTO Michael Bolle explained that while most companies in 2020 focused on building AI to predict or model human behavior, they instead built what they are calling industrial AI and merged it with IoT. In Boschs AIoT program, they concentrate on explaining the world to objects and machines, and teaching them how to interact with it.

By explaining the physical world to machines instead of trying to make them think like humans, it makes for a much more functional AI that can be employed in a variety of situations that might really drive smart cities and other practical applications into overdrive in 2021 and beyond.

Self-Driving Cars Pulling into Your Neighborhood

Another huge technology that will benefit from 5G is self-driving vehicles. We saw a few pilot programs in different states over the past few years, as well as some Congressional approval to explore this new technology. And at CES last year, you almost couldnt wander the show floor without bumping into a self-driving car or even a self-flying airplane.

Without a physical presence, there was much less emphasis on cars this year. However, one company was taking pilot programs and moving them into the real world, with big plans for major rollouts by 2025.

That company is called Mobileye, and is a subsidiary of Intel. They took a unique approach to developing their self-driving vehicles, namely doing a lot of the most difficult tasks, like mapping hundreds of miles of potential streets, roads and routes before trying to then interface that data with their vehicles. At CES, they announced that they had mapped almost a billion kilometers of roads for their vehicles, and add about eight million more every day. When the mapping is combined with its safe-driving AI, it makes for a safe and efficient ride for passengers.

Last year the company tested its cars in Germany and logged thousands of driverless trips with passengers. It plans to quickly scale to other countries and cities, so you might see a Mobileye vehicle in your neck of the woods very soon. Beyond just that success, their method of getting self-driving cars deployed quickly and safely could become a roadmap for other private or government projects in this area.

From the beginning, every part of our plan aims for rapid geographic and economic scalability and todays news shows how our innovations are enabling us to execute on that strategy, said Mobileye CEO Amnon Shashua.

Virtual CES runs through January 14th this year, so there is lots more to see. The good news about a virtual show is that even if you miss a keynote or a presentation, its still going to be available online anytime. So sit back and enjoy seeing what technology the future may hold.

John Breeden II is an award-winning journalist and reviewer with over 20 years of experience covering technology. He is the CEO of the Tech Writers Bureau, a group that creates technological thought leadership content for organizations of all sizes. Twitter: @LabGuys

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What The CES All Digital Show Says About the Future - Nextgov

Human Behavior

COVID-19 in the wastewater: UW researchers track silent spreader in sewage – Q13 FOX (Seattle)

COVID-19 in the wastewater

UW researchers track silent spreader in sewage

SEATTLE - As COVID-19 runs rampant in the Puget Sound, University of Washington scientists are tracking the virus in the one place most of us want nothing to do with the sewer.

Handling raw sewage is something PhD student Sarah Philo and post-graduate Angelo Ong do on a weekly basis, donning layers of gloves and other biosafety gear, including respirators. Its not for the wastewater, its for the virus living in it.

"Once we saw the pandemic starting to take hold, one of our first thoughts, in my mind, was that we should start measuring the virus in wastewater," said Scott Meschke, UW professor of environmental and occupational health services.

Meschke had initially refined the wastewater testing method working with the poliovirus. With a new outbreak in the Puget Sound, he was not surprised to find SARS-CoV-2 in sewage, the virus known in humans as COVID-19.

RELATED:King County to spend $7 million on COVID-19 vaccination sites, mobile vans

"Sewage is kind of the great composite sample, right, pretty much everything that passes through the body is going to exit one way or the other," he said.

He said it could hold one answer to tracking a silent spreader. Thats what hes trying to refine in his lab, with Philo and Ongs help.

Using weekly samples from three wastewater treatment plants in King County, the method to identify SARS-CoV-2 is "really low tech," according to Philo.

"Its also really easy so we hope that there arent a lot of barriers for people to be able to do this method," she added.

Using raw wastewater, Philo and Ong test the pH and make sure theres no chlorine in the sample, which could ruin the experiment. Then, its a combination of acid and skim milk to get the right balance. Philo said skimmed milk flocculation draws all of the viruses and bacteria present in the sample.

RELATED:All regions to remain in Phase 1 of new Healthy Washington reopening plan, state says

Part of the process includes the three samples going on a shaker machine for two hours. In total, the weekly testing is a full day of work for the UW students.

Theres talk, Meschke said, of wastewater being an early warning system of virus spread. Tracking the virus in King County samples since March, theyve found their own results mirror clinical cases.

"Definitely over the summer, when there were fewer COVID cases in the Seattle area, we were not getting as many detections in the sewage so it was definitely lower levels, below what we were able to find," Philo said. "And as the number of COVID cases has risen were definitely getting much more detection across all three treatment sites."

A point with the value of one indicates SARS-CoV-2 was detected at all three treatment plants. A point with the value of zero indicates we did not detect SARS-CoV-2 in any of the treatment plants.

Right now, the results tell us what we already know theres COVID-19 in King County, found in testing and down the drain. But theres more to tracking the virus than what has been recorded this past year.

"The prevalence is so high right now that we should expect to find it, but once we start knocking it down, this tool will be even more important to understand low levels of circulation in populations," Meschke said.

Its an indicator that comes straight from the pipes, not impacted by human behavior.

"The benefit of that is we pick up asymptomatic cases or we pick up people that arent seeking testing," he said.

He acknowledges the method, right now, is less useful sampling massive water treatment plants, which only tell them that theres COVID-19 in the county. The purpose of the research, he said, is to perfect a method that can be easily duplicated across labs around the country and world. The greatest use of tracking outbreaks, he said, will eventually be much closer to home.

"Nursing homes, dormitories, places like this where if we get a signal very close to the source, were able to immediately respond with additional follow up clinical testing," he said.

RELATED:Who's getting the COVID-19 vaccine next: A look at Washington's distribution plan

Opening an ultra cold freezer in the lab, Meschke takes us back to a time before doctors tested for COVID-19 in the U.S. Examining old frozen wastewater samples from February, Meschke said they were able to identify the virus in King County sewage, before testing and illness indicated the virus was spreading in the community.

As more of the population becomes vaccinated and people are eager to flush COVID-19 out of their minds, Meschke predicts testing will be less prevalent, allowing COVID-19 to silently circulate. The key to catching it in time may start with circling the drain.

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COVID-19 in the wastewater: UW researchers track silent spreader in sewage - Q13 FOX (Seattle)

Human Behavior

Social media may be widening the political divide in America – Wink News

A clear divide in our country now stands after the attack at the Capitol on Wednesday. But did misinformation spreading across social media become the catalyst for this attack?

There is so much information out there including pictures and memes that make it onto our Twitter and Facebook feeds. Some of these photos claim that a group of men at the Capitol were Antifa members when that just isnt the case.

Those who study human behavior nationally and in Florida say social media is not the cause of the divide but it has helped the spread. And, it played a role in the Capitol Hill riot.

One second. One click. Then the person on your timeline that you disagree with is gone.

Dr. Laura Streffeler is a licensed mental health counselor. People dont necessarily go on social media for new information. They go on social media to read information about what they already know or believe, said Dr. Streffeler.

Streffeler is not alone in saying that social media did not cause the divide in this country, but Twitter, Facebook, Parler and Instagram certainly helped to grow them.

Chris Wright-Isak is a marketing and advertising professor at FGCU. They have algorithms that build on what you searched before. And they will send you more of that, he said.

Experts in misinformation say the process is familiar now, where people who want to believe something find validation via social media.

Katie Taylor is an avid Trump Supporter. There is no way anyone will ever convince me Joe Biden got more votes than President Trump, said Taylor.

Jarod Holt monitors extremist behavior online for the Atlantic Councils Digital Forensic Lab.

There were discussions about trying to get weapons into D.C. There were conversations about surrounding the Capitol, said Holt. And then in the last few days, the discussion shifted into even more extreme territory about taking matters into their own hands.

Now we have to ask: is there a solution to all of this?

Wright-Isak says there eventually needs to be some form of regulation. You have to eventually enact regulations that require the information to be labeled one truthful or not, he said.

But, is that realistic? Could it ever happen? He says it happened in other industries and mediums, so yes its possible. It happened in advertising. It happened in radio and television. What do you think the Federal Communications Commission is? Its a watchdog for truth, Wright-Isak said.

Social Scientists hope that Wednesdays events serve as a wake-up call. Yet, they arent too optimistic. Right now, they say too many people are simply switching to other platforms to find what they want to hear, where theres no line between fact and fiction.

For now, we just have to wait and see if regulations will be imposed.

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Social media may be widening the political divide in America - Wink News

Human Behavior

Study Shows Identifying Empathy Is Key to Increasing Diversity in Medicine, Improved Patient Care – PRNewswire

Empathy assessments can help close the racial disparity at medical education institutions and reduce doctor burnout.

African American and Latinx Medical Students Score Higher in Empathy

The award-winning Project in Osteopathic Medical Education and Empathy (POMEE) has found statistically significant and practically important relationshipsbetween empathy scores and race and ethnicity in favor of African American and Hispanic/Latinx/Spanish respondents. Because empathy is positively correlated with medical school success and patient health, a more empathetic and more diverse healthcare workforce could lead to improved health outcomes for all patient populations, especially those from minority or underserved communities.

AACOM will host a live virtual forumwith the project's principal investigator and co-sponsors on Thursday, January 14 from 12 1 PM ETto fully elaborate on the study and answer questions from attendees. There is no cost to attend and registration is open to the public.

Implications for More Diverse Medical School Admissions

"At a time when African American and Hispanic/Latinx communities are disproportionately suffering from COVID-19, and when medical schools across the nation are working to more actively increase and prioritize diversity in admissions, we should test medical students not only for academic knowledge but also for empathy," says POMEE's principal investigator Mohammadreza Hojat, PhD, research professor in Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, and director of the Jefferson Longitudinal Study at the Asano-Gonnella Center for Research in Medical Education and Health Care. "Research has found a significant association among Jefferson Scale of Empathy score, clinical competence, and positive patient outcomes. Our assessment can not only help medical schools select the medical students most likely to become successful and caring clinicians but can also help close some of the troubling racial gaps that persist among medical education institutions."

POMEE is sponsored by AACOM in collaboration with the Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and Leonard Calabrese, DO, Cleveland Clinic's R.J. Fasenmeyer Chair of Clinical Immunology and Theodore F. Classen, DO, Chair in Osteopathic Research and Education. For more information about POMEE, visit aacom.org/empathy.

About AACOM

The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) leads and advocates for the full continuum of osteopathic medical education to improve the health of the public. Founded in 1898 to support and assist the nation's osteopathic medical schools, AACOM represents all 37 accredited colleges of osteopathic medicineeducating nearly 31,000 future physicians, 25 percent of all US medical studentsat 58 teaching locations in 33 US states, as well as osteopathic graduate medical education professionals and trainees at US medical centers, hospitals, clinics, and health systems.

AACOM provides leadership for the osteopathic medical education community by promoting excellence in medical education, research, and service, and by fostering innovation and quality across the continuum of osteopathic medical education to improve the health of the American public.

SOURCE American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine

http://www.aacom.org

See the article here:
Study Shows Identifying Empathy Is Key to Increasing Diversity in Medicine, Improved Patient Care - PRNewswire