Ed Note: I had a similar tragic case where a car was inadvertently left running in a garage as a young mother had to rush into the house with a crying baby. Unfortunately the furnace was in the garage and the “fresh air” intake was located there. A furnace intake should never be from garage air. I wonder if that was the situation in the case below.
By David Jeans in the NYT
For Sherry H. Penney, a former university chancellor, and her husband, James D. Livingston, a retired physicist, the 2017 Toyota Avalon was a sensible purchase. It was a model she and her husband had owned before, but the new version had electronic sensors and other advanced features.
“The Avalon is very safe,” Mr. Livingston’s daughter Susan recalled hearing Ms. Penney say.
Last month, one of those features proved fatal.
Ms. Penney, 81, and Mr. Livingston, 88, were found dead at their home in Sarasota, Fla., poisoned by carbon monoxide, according to preliminary tests by the local medical examiner. Susan Livingston said that after the car — which had a keyless ignition — pulled into the garage attached to their house, the engine had continued to run.
The deaths highlight a hazard that regulatory and legislative efforts have yet to remedy: Without the motion of turning a physical key, some car owners, especially older ones, forget to turn off a vehicle.
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Q. Please explain positional vertigo. Two of my siblings have woken up in the morning with it. What do you do if you experience it?
A. Positional vertigo is a common type of dizziness that can be treated with a simple maneuver.
Vertigo is an illusory sensation of motion that is often accompanied by intense nausea.
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or B.P.P.V., is the medical term for positional vertigo. It is important to use this term, as there are other types of vertigo with different causes and treatments.
B.P.P.V. is caused by microscopic “stones” that are present on the ends of hair follicles in the ear canal and that help you maintain your balance. Vertigo occurs when these stones break off and move from the body of the inner ear into its semicircular canals, which determine our perception of three-dimensional space. This usually occurs as a result of aging or head trauma.
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Free-floating stones cause the inner ear to give faulty information to the brain about our position in space, creating a false sensation of motion.
The mechanism of B.P.P.V. was discovered almost a century ago by the Viennese physician Dr. Robert Bárány, who won a Nobel Prize for his work. In 1979, Dr. John Epley, an ear, nose and throat specialist in Portland, Ore., found that a simple maneuver could treat most cases of B.P.P.V. without the need for drugs or surgery.
The Epley maneuver is a series of rapid changes in position of the head that are performed in a doctor’s office. The maneuver repositions stones so they do not cause symptoms. Incidentally, B.P.P.V. has been reported to be cured in some people after they have ridden on roller coasters.
The Epley maneuver is surprisingly effective. It has proved to be beneficial in several randomized controlled trials. And some patients can be trained to perform the maneuver at home.
In straightforward cases of B.P.P.V., the American Academy of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery recommends against advanced imaging tests, such as M.R.I. and CT scans, as they are unnecessary. The group also recommends against the routine use of medications, as they have side effects and can interfere with testing.
Because other conditions can mimic the symptoms of B.P.P.V., such as inner ear infections, migraine, multiple sclerosis and stroke, diagnosis by a doctor is essential. Once diagnosed, however, B.P.P.V. is one of a select group of medical conditions for which a simple nondrug, nonsurgical technique can offer relief.
Posted inHealth|Comments Off on How Do You Treat Positional Vertigo?
Ed note: Bob T has sent along this information and the website for the 800 Columbia project. Click on this link and bookmark it to stay up to date on our new neighbor:https://800columbiacondos.com/
Latest News
Notice: 6/26/2019 – Due to the testing of soil, Turner is one day behind schedule. Turner expected to average 5,100 yards of soil per day during 8 weeks of excavation. Turner hopes to make-up the one day and get back on schedule.
800 Columbia Residential Tower will be an architecturally distinctive 30-story tower, containing 271 luxury condominiums and 197 below grade parking stalls. The Project is located in Seattle’s First Hill neighborhood, with access to highways and public transportation connecting with centers of employment, shopping, dining and entertainment in downtown Seattle and the greater Seattle area. The building will feature high level finishes with a stone, glass and steel exterior, hardwood floors and kitchens featuring European-crafted cabinetry and high-end.
The project includes:
Lounges
Rooftop BBQs
Concierge
Fitness Center
Yoga Studio
Tenant Parking
Storage Lockers
Dog Run
Dog Lounge
Pet Wash
Two-Tiered Open Park Space
Bike Storage
Two Gaming Rooms
Co-Working Lounge
Posted inIn the Neighborhood|Comments Off on The 800 Columbia Residential Tower
Peering inside cells has been an integral part of biology ever since the 17th century, when cells were discovered under a microscope. But even with advances in light and electron microscopy, researchers who want to understand where various molecules are inside a cell — and thus how cells like neurons, immune cells and tumors differ from one another — can glean only so much .
The technique, described Thursday in the journal Cell, also reveals a wealth of genetic information not accessible with traditional microscopy tools: which immune receptor genes are turned on or off, say, and whether cells are healthy or full of disease-causing mutations.
“DNA microscopy captures both genetic and spatial information simultaneously,” said Joshua Weinstein, a postdoctoral researcher at the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard and the lead author of the paper. “That’s what’s really beautiful about it.”
A scientist starts by pipetting readily available chemical reagents onto a sample. This causes small, synthetic DNA tags to latch on to biomolecules inside the cells. A subsequent reaction leads each tag to generate copies, which emanate outward like radio signals from a cellphone tower.
Ed note: Do we write letters anymore? Is there a difference between email and real mail? It seems to me that letters carry more weight. They can’t be deleted with a click. They can be found later in our real files. They don’t disappear when we die. We note the handwriting and how much care was taken. Emotion is so much better expressed. Maybe somewhere in our junk mail, we’ll find a real letter soon. There’s always hope.
Posted inEssays|Comments Off on Do we get real mail anymore?
By Lauren Katzenberg in the New York Times. Thanks to Pamela P for this. What are your thoughts on national service? Should it be two years?
Seventy-three years ago, The Times reported that the United States Army demobilized its seven millionth soldier after the end of World War II. When I unearthed this clip several months ago, I thought I was misreading the number. It’s hard to imagine a single service ballooning to more than eight million people (the Army’s peak strength by V-E Day in 1945) and then releasing 6.5 million soldiers in just over a year. The draft certainly made it easier to fill the ranks, but nearly 40 percent of World War II-era service members across all branches volunteered for duty. By comparison, in today’s all-volunteer force approximately 475,000 service members make up the active-duty Army — a fraction of the overall adult population in the United States.
Times story published April 23, 1946.CreditThe New York Times archive
Last year, the Army struggled to meet its end-strength goal of 483,500, even after spending an extra $200 million on bonuses and lowering standards to let in more recruits. Reporting for The Times in September 2018, Dave Philipps wrote: “On top of having to compete with a robust economy, with an unemployment rate below 4 percent, the Army must pick from what it says is a shrinking pool of eligible recruits. More than two-thirds of young adults do not qualify for military service because of poor physical fitness or other issues such as drug use, according to the Army.”
It was Trevor’s first weekend to relax since moving to Seattle. He was out in a park walking Bailey, his year old lab, when his pager unexpectedly beeped. He called in to the operating room office, where the frantic head nurse told him he had to come in. The scheduled anesthesiologist was very ill with the flu, and no one else was available. He had to come in for at least two cases, perhaps more.
Trevor pleaded, “Can’t you find anyone else, it’s my first weekend off, and I doubt if I can find anyone to watch Bailey.”
“Sorry, we need you – now!”, came the curt reply.
Trevor called his only friend so far but got no reply. He hadn’t had much contact with neighbors yet, so didn’t think he could ask them to take care of Bailey. So having no other choice, he packed Bailey along with water and dog food into his Subaru hoping that Bailey wouldn’t mind hanging out in the car.
Bailey barked annoyingly as Trevor parked the car in the shade, cracked the windows a bit, and headed for the OR. The case was easy and lasted about an hour. Trevor headed quickly out to the car finding Bailey trying to dismantle it. There were scratch marks on the door and a tear in the seat cover. This just wasn’t working.
So Trevor walked Bailey, now happy around to the back of the hospital, entered the service entrance and took the back service elevator which came up just outside the anesthesia call room. He stayed with Bailey making sure he had water and food and a comfortable pillow, then was called in for the next case. Bailey seemed content to wait for him.
The case was an appendectomy. The patient was anesthetized in the usual fashion and Trevor settled in to watch the monitors and patient while the surgeon went to work. Strangely he felt pressure and a cold wet sensation on his left leg. Looking down with dread he saw Bailey looking up with a happy face and wagging tail. The OR nurse screeched, “Where in the hell did that dog come from? Get him out of here.”
The surgeon didn’t miss a beat, “At least give him a mask and dog booties.”
The patient, of course, was peacefully oblivious.
The dog was watched by security, who cared for him until Trevor could leave, red faced and worried about repercussions. I’m happy to report that the unsuspecting patient did well, Trevor kept his job, and that Bailey probably wondered what the fuss was all about.
Of course the hospital administrators had their fur ruffled, but were happy that no one leaked the story to the press.
The New York Times is again making news for how it handles editorial cartoons — or in the latest turn, will not handle editorial cartoons.
Beginning next month, the Times will cease running daily political cartoons in its international edition, editorial page editor James Bennet said Monday in a statement — a move that brings the overseas newspaper “into line with the domestic paper,” which in recent years had ceased running weekly roundups of syndicated cartoons and experimented instead with longer-form editorial comics.
The decision came to light Monday when longtime contributor Patrick Chappatte wrote on his blog that he was told the news last week by Times editors. In his post, Chappatte pointed to the Times controversy from April, when a cartoon depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a guide dog — wearing a Star of David collar tag and leading a blind, yarmulke-wearing President Trump — was widely condemned as anti-Semitic and evocative of Nazi propaganda.
Hilary Franz Thurs. June 27 3:30 pm Mount Baker Room
Please plan to join us for a talk by Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz on the management of Washington’s forests, grasslands and aquatic resources by the Department of Natural Resources.
For more detail see the CEG Calendar.
Posted inCivic Engagement Group|Comments Off on Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz talks about Washington State’s Department of Natural Resources
Eiluned Pearce is a postdoctoral research associate in experimental psychology at the University of Oxford. She is interested in the evolution of human organisation, and her work has been published in Psychology of Music and Arts & Health, among others.
From Aeon: “In Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), the movie about the British band Queen, the scene that sticks in my mind depicts the Live Aid concert in London in 1985. Queen belt out their best-loved songs and the crowd is singing along, swaying, clapping and stamping its feet. I could empathise a potent sense of togetherness in the audience, a feeling of cohesion between thousands of fans, coming not only from a shared enjoyment of watching the band but, more importantly, from being part of the music-making. It’s no wonder that the film shows the Live Aid donations start to climb during this set: we know that social bonding is associated with more prosocial behaviour. As a researcher, I am interested in how and why this sense of solidity from singing comes about.
Singing is universal. It is found in all cultures and, despite protestations of tone deafness, the vast majority of people can sing. Singing also often occurs in collective contexts: think about sports stadiums, religious services and birthday celebrations. Given these two characteristics, my colleagues and I wondered whether singing is a behaviour that evolved to bond groups together.
One of those occasions when it keeps getting better and better–and it winds up costing $50 for film and processing (corrected for inflation, that was likely $100 back in my grad student days).
Fortunately, I was shooting with an iPhone X and supplementary telephoto, by far the best camera I have ever owned. I did NO color correction or contrast enhancement beyond what the iPhone usually does. Except for missing some shades of orange, it really looked like that.
BTW, this Observation Deck view is going away next summer as 800 Columbia arises. Come see the sunsets while you can.
From Wikepedia: Juneteenth, also known as Juneteenth Independence Day or Freedom Day, is an American holiday that commemorates the June 19, 1865, announcement of the abolition of slavery in the U.S. state of Texas, and more generally the emancipation of enslaved African Americansthroughout the former Confederate States of America. Texas was the most remote of the slave states, and the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, was not enforced there until after the Confederacy collapsed. The name of the observance is a portmanteau of “June” and “nineteenth”, the date of its celebration.[1][2] Juneteenth is recognized as a state holiday or special day of observance in 46 states.[3]
Lift Every Voice and Sing – often called “The Black National Anthem” – was written as a poem by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) and then set to music by his brother John Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954) in 1899.
We have had a cancelation for the trip to Ashland. Cost of the trip is $1,823. Accommodations would be shared with Diane Stevens. See attached for a description regarding what is included. In addition there will be FREE chauffeur service while in Ashland.
If interested please contact Carmen Tieu at 206-407-1704 by Close Of Business (COB) Wednesday, 6/19/19.
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Eiluned Pearce is a postdoctoral research associate in experimental psychology at the University of Oxford. She is interested in the evolution of human organisation, and her work has been published in Psychology of Music and Arts & Health, among others.
