Help |
Site Map
|
Ferida Wolff writes: Turkey vultures were gathering on a local street. There was a dead squirrel for lunch. Sadly, it must have been hit by a speeding car but it provided a welcome meal for the large birds. I often see the vultures flying overhead looking for food. They sometimes swoop down to check out a possible dead critter and if one is found, a bunch of them will gather for the feast. They aren’t the prettiest of creatures but they are practical as they help clean up the environment. The is no nest structure. The female Turkey Vulture lays 1 to 3 eggs directly on ground in caves, crevices, mammal burrows, hollow logs, under fallen trees, or in abandoned buildings. The eggs are creamy-white with dark blotches around large end.
"The sense of the House of Representatives that corporations should commit to utilizing the benefits of gender diversity in boards of directors and other senior management positions; A bill to exclude a basic allowance for housing from income for purposes of eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); A bill to address the disparate impact of climate change on women and support the efforts of women globally to address climate change; resolution recognizing Girl Scouts of the United States of America on its 110th birthday and celebrating its legacy of providing girls with a safe, inclusive space while supporting the next generation of women leaders; A bill to support stillbirth prevention and research; Budget - On Wednesday, the House Budget Committee will hold a hearing, “Ensuring Women Can Thrive in a Post-Pandemic Economy.”
"Women continue to be underrepresented in management roles in the U.S. workforce, with a slight increase in 2019 compared to our 2010 report. Female managers continued to earn less than male managers, with the pay gap remaining unchanged. Among other things, our analysis of Census Bureau data showed that in 2019:
An estimated 42% of managers were women, which was less than the percentage of women in the overall workforce (48%). Female managers were more likely to be younger, more educated, and unmarried — and less likely to be White than male managers. Full-time female managers earned 71 cents for every dollar earned by full-time male managers."
Like early 20th century cultural anthropologists, John Lenoir set out in the 1970s, to spend some adventurous years doing fieldwork in an idyllic tropical paradise isolated from Western culture. But John never imagined how adventurous it would be. The readers of this fascinating and deeply moving memoir will experience the same surprises. John chose to work in the newly independent nation of Guyana, in the Amazon basin of South America. His aim was to explore the effect of African culture on a slave plantation society only recently freed from European colonialism.
This study, led by Ueli Rutishauser, Ph.D., professor of neurosurgery, neurology and biomedical sciences at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, started with a deceptively simple question: how does our brain form and organize memories? We live our awake lives as one continuous experience, but it is believed based on human behavior studies, that we store these life events as individual, distinct moments. What marks the beginning and end of a memory? This theory is referred to as “event segmentation,” and we know relatively little about how the process works in the human brain. To study this, Rutishauser and his colleagues worked with 20 patients who were undergoing intracranial recording of brain activity to guide surgery for treatment of their drug-resistant epilepsy.
"Thermobarics have extremely limited utility against military targets; their primary use has been against civilian areas. They still fall far short of nuclear weapons. A better comparison for thermobarics is to incendiary munitions, cluster munitions and barrel bombs. There is a legal argument that thermobaric weapons may be prohibited under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons if they count under Protocol III: Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons, but they are not explicitly listed. Further, since the United States also keeps them in its military inventory, it is unlikely that they will be explicitly listed or that there will be a treaty banning their use."
CMS has rebuffed requests to mandate higher staffing levels in the past, saying each facility should “make thoughtful, informed staffing plans.” But multiple examinations — including a thorough CMS study in 2001 — have concluded staffing levels are frequently inadequate, particularly on nights and weekends. Studies have found that homes with higher staffing levels have fewer patient injuries. The 2001 study set a standard that many nursing homes currently don’t meet, saying optimal care required roughly one staffer for every seven short-stay patients — like those recovering from a hospital stay — and one staffer for every six long-stay residents.
One example of the programs available: Book Talk – Female Genius: Eliza Harriot and George Washington at the Dawn of the Constitution, Tuesday, March 8, at 1 p.m. ET; Register in advance; watch on the National Archives YouTube Channel; Mary Sarah Bilder looks to the 1780s — the age of the Constitution — to investigate the rise of a radical new idea in the English-speaking world: female genius. English-born Eliza Harriot Barons O’Connor delivered a University of Pennsylvania lecture attended by George Washington as he and other Constitutional Convention delegates gathered in Philadelphia. As the first such public female lecturer, her courageous performance likely inspired the gender-neutral language of the Constitution.
GAO collected and analyzed publicly available reports from federal and nonfederal organizations to identify risks to internet architecture components GAO also reviewed federal law and policy and its prior work to identify federal internet architecture security roles and responsible agencies. Based on the agencies' roles, GAO collected and analyzed relevant documents and conducted interviews with officials from the responsible agencies. In addition, GAO convened two panels with subject matter experts. The panelists have experience in various aspects of the internet architecture, such as owning and operating elements of the infrastructure, participating in and contributing to standards-setting organizations, and studying and participating in various multistakeholder governance entities.
"After four months of treatment with DP (3,6’-dithiopomalidomide), the mice showed reduced brain inflammation and neuron death, and they had more neural connections in the brain areas responsible for memory and attention. DP-treated mice also showed improvement in behavioral laboratory tasks that test spatial and working memory as well as anxiety behaviors and motor function, results the researchers see as protective against cognitive impairment."
"More than at any other point in recent history, the principles at the heart of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s work – and the entire United Nations – are being challenged. Russia is currently carrying out a premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine, violating international law, flouting the core principles of international peace and security, and creating a human rights and humanitarian crisis. Reports of Russia’s human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law mount by the hour. Russian strikes are hitting schools, hospitals, and residential buildings. They are destroying critical infrastructure, which provides millions of people across Ukraine with drinking water, gas to keep them from freezing to death, and electricity. Civilian buses, cars, and even ambulances have been shelled. Russia is doing this every day – across Ukraine."
Ferida Wolff writes: Today the temperature was in the high 60s but tomorrow it should be in the 30s. Will the geese be as surprised as I am about the variation in the season? Will they be confused about their decision to come back? As the climate warms up, I wonder if the geese migration will change. Perhaps it is inborn and they will continue in their usual pattern or they may adapt and shift when or if they migrate. Nature is always interesting to observe. Meanwhile, Welcome back geese!
According to the QWI data based on unemployment insurance wage records for the third quarter of 2020 (the most recent national data), women in the United States earned 30% less than men and that pay gap increased with age. Women are over-represented in lower paying jobs and, as they age, the pay gap widens even more. The gender gap has narrowed for younger women as they increase their education level and break into occupations traditionally dominated by men. Although the gender pay gap has narrowed since the signing of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, women earned 82 cents for every dollar a man earns according to 2020 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The gender gap has narrowed for younger women as they increase their education level and break into occupations traditionally dominated by men. While women have a growing presence in higher paying industries like Information or Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, they are still over-represented in lower paying industries.
The NHS II data indicated that experiences of sexual violence were common: about 23% of the women had experienced sexual assault at some point in their life and 12% had experienced workplace sexual harassment. About 6% of women had experienced both. About 21% of the women reported developing high blood pressure over the follow-up period, from 2008 to 2015. Compared with women who had never experienced any type of trauma, women who had experienced sexual assault at any point in their lifetime were more likely to develop high blood pressure, as were women who had experienced workplace sexual harassment. Women who had experienced both sexual assault and harassment had the highest risk of developing high blood pressure.
Federal Reserve Governor Bowman: "Inflation is much too high. Last year I noted that inflationary pressures associated with strong demand and constrained supply could take longer to subside than many expected. Since then, those problems have persisted and inflation has broadened, reaching the highest rate that Americans have faced in forty years. High inflation is a heavy burden for all Americans, but especially for those with limited means who are forced to pay more for everyday items, delay purchases, or put off saving for the future. I intend to support prompt and decisive action to lower inflation, and today I will explain how the Fed is pursuing this goal."
Jo Freeman writes: Her description of Donald Trump and his dysfunctional administration is consistent with that of other authors. Trump was addicted to flattery and adulation. A chapter section is called “Me, Me, Me.” Hill says he suffered from “autocrat envy.” He didn’t just admire Putin; he wanted to be like him. Trump was angered by mere rumors that someone had said something negative about him. He wanted to just snuff them out, with the alacrity of Putin and other autocrats. Although Hill worked for the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations, we only get details about Trump. Since it’s not a short book, perhaps the publisher didn’t think reading about the earlier Presidents would generate sales. Too bad. Her other comparisons are illuminating; how these three men ran their domains should be as well.
A report published in October 2020, offered an overview of the responses, but the authors of the new study sought to gain deeper insight into the role that specific factors played in determining a business’s resilience during the pandemic. "The team’s findings are based on responses from more than 1,350 businesses to a survey NIST and NOAA distributed from July to August in 2020. A third of those returning surveys were from underrepresented groups. "It is critical that we understand how climate events amplify existing social and economic vulnerabilities,” said Ariela Zycherman, a co-author of the paper in NOAA’s Climate Program Office.
“The right to vote is the fundamental right upon which our democracy is built,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “For too long in our history, many voters with disabilities have faced barriers in exercising their voting rights. Many of these barriers continue even today, including physical barriers that prevent them from entering polling places or accessing a ballot dropbox. The ADA requires election officials to select and provide accessible ballot dropbox locations so that voters with disabilities can have the same voting opportunities as other voters. The Justice Department is fully committed to vigorous enforcement of the ADA to ensure that voters with disabilities no longer face discrimination in the election process.” The publication covers the elements and features of a ballot dropbox that election officials should consider meeting the ADA’s accessibility requirements. The publication discusses the requirements for an accessible route to a ballot dropbox, such as a level walkway without gaps and steps. It also discusses accessibility features of a ballot dropbox such as a handle or lever that can be operated with one hand and without tight grasping, pinching or twisting of the wrist. The guidance includes a checklist of the accessibility standards used to assess a ballot dropbox.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)/Education and Labor; House Administration; Oversight and Reform; Ways and Means (2/9/22) — A bill to extend protections to part-time workers in the areas of family and medical leave and pension plans, and to ensure equitable treatment in the workplace; Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)/Placed on Senate legislative calendar (2/9/22) — A bill to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act of 1994; On Tuesday, the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee will mark up several bills, including S. 2042, the Interagency Committee on Women’s Business Enterprise Act of 2021. Appropriations — Bipartisan Violence Against Women Act This week, the Senate is expected to vote on a continuing resolution (CR) (H.R. 6617) to fund the government through March 11. The current CR expires on February 18.
Clinical Investigation: "A nationally representative online survey of 2006 U.S. adults aged 50–80 was conducted in January 2021 to assess changes in health behaviors (worsened physical activity and less daily time spent on feet), social isolation (lack of companionship and perceived isolation), physical function (mobility and physical conditioning), and falls (falls and fear of falling) since March 2020. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess relationships among physical activity, social isolation, physical function, falls, and fear of falling."
"According to Paul Wolfram [Yale] ’21 PhD now a postdoc with the Joint Global Change Research Institute at the University of Maryland, the study shows that 'the elephant in the room is the supply chain of fossil fuel-powered vehicles, not that of electric vehicles'. He notes that the faster we switch to electric vehicles, the better — at least in countries with a sufficiently decarbonized electricity supply, like the US Yale economics professor Ken Gillingham, whose research has focused extensively on alternative energy adoption in transportation, says this research provides a better understanding of how comprehensive carbon pricing — which includes the full supply chain — can shift consumers toward electric vehicles."
The study included more than 13,000 pregnant individuals from 17 U.S. hospitals, approximately 2,400 of whom were infected with SARS-CoV-2. Participants delivered between March 1 and December 31 2020, before SARS-CoV-2 vaccination was available. The researchers compared outcomes among those with COVID-19 to those from uninfected patients, and tabulated the study results as a primary outcome — whether the patient had died from any cause or had a serious illness or condition related to common obstetric complications. They also evaluated the results in terms of several secondary outcomes, including cesarean delivery, preterm birth, and fetal and newborn death.
Julia Sneden Wrote: My mother was a mini Imelda Marcos. She kept upwards of 40 pairs of shoes well into her 80's, and was crushed when she had to give up high heels following a heart attack at the age of 89. Her sole criterion in buying shoes was style, not comfort, and she was very proud of wearing size 5½ long after her feet had grown to 6½. While she had a pair of old oxfords for hiking and gardening, I never saw her wearing anything but high heels for shopping, visiting, teaching, church-going, and general around-the-house wear. She loved shoes so much that she would order a pair that caught her fancy from a catalogue. If they didn't fit, she would give them away unworn to a friend or the daughter of a friend, to an employee or to the churchwomen's sale.
The fact that the genes of diverse invertebrates group together so faithfully, despite hundreds of millions of years of independent evolution, could indicate that for genes to jump around among chromosomes is a lot harder than scientists presumed from their studies of vertebrates, where genes have rearranged more frequently, likely because of genetic drift. “Animals like amphioxus [also called lancelet] live in huge populations where the rare mutants with rearranged chromosomes are at a disadvantage and typically die out, whereas, in small, subdivided populations, which is more typical of mammals, rearrangements are more likely to survive and spread. That’s one hypothesis.”
"More than 200,000 long-term care facility (LTCF) residents and staff have died due to COVID since the start of the pandemic (Figure 1). The CDC’s latest update reporting data on nursing home deaths as of January 30th pushes the reported number of deaths over this bleak milestone. This finding comes at a time when the national surge in cases due to the Omicron variant has started to subside, deaths are rising nationwide, and nursing homes have been working to increase vaccination and booster rates among residents and staff, particularly in light of the new federal rule requiring staff vaccination recently allowed to take effect by the Supreme Court. As of January 16th, approximately 82% of nursing home staff and 87% of nursing home residents are fully vaccinated." The total number of resident and staff deaths from these two sources, roughly 201,000, is likely an undercount of the true number of resident and staff deaths in LTCFs since it excludes deaths in long-term care settings other than nursing homes after June 30th, 2021. Additionally, not all states reported data on all types of LTCFs prior to June 2021."
|
|