Via (https://twitter.com/ianbremmer/status/1543348929445625859)
Category: Health
Categories
Emissions rebound
“The NFL agreed to end race-based adjustments in dementia testing that critics said made it difficult for Black retirees to qualify for awards in the $1 billion settlement of concussion claims, according to a proposed deal filed Wednesday in federal court.”
“The NFL had agreed in June, amid an uproar, to halt the use of race-norming, which assumes Black players start with lower cognitive function. That makes it harder to show they suffer from a mental deficit linked to their playing days.”
“The Black retirees will now have the chance to have their tests rescored or, in some cases, seek a new round of cognitive testing…”
(https://apnews.com/article/f9c8c931467c815099dce0ed42652379)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_traumatic_encephalopathy)
Image (https://abc7.com/amp/nfl-dementia-concussion-settlement/11146620/)
“The finding upends conventional wisdom regarding coughing, long thought to be the main route of transmission.”
“As much as 90 percent of TB bacteria released from an infected person may be carried in tiny droplets, called aerosols, that are expelled when a person exhales deeply…”
“Researchers previously believed that most TB transmission occurred when an infected person coughed, spraying droplets containing the bacteria into the air. Some bacteria were thought to be released when a person breathed, but much less than by coughing.
“The new finding does not change that understanding: A single cough can expel more bacteria than a single breath. But if an infected person breathes 22,000 times per day while coughing up to 500 times, then coughing accounts for as little as 7 percent of the total bacteria emitted by an infected patient…”
“Tuberculosis is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which usually attacks the lungs. It is the world’s deadliest infectious disease after Covid-19, claiming more than 1.5 million lives last year — the first increase in a decade, according to a report published last week by the World Health Organization.”
“The report echoes an important finding of the Covid pandemic: The coronavirus, too, spreads in aerosols carried aloft, particularly in indoor spaces…”
(https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/19/health/tuberculosis-transmission-aerosols.html)
(https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mycobacterium_tuberculosis_8438_lores.jpg)
“PFAS, called “forever chemicals” because they last so long in the environment, have been associated with serious health conditions, including cancer and reduced birth weight.
“PFAS is short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances that are used in nonstick frying pans, water-repellent sports gear, stain-resistant rugs and countless other consumer products. The chemical bonds are so strong that they don’t degrade or do so only slowly in the environment and remain in a person’s bloodstream indefinitely.”
“The EPA will move to set aggressive drinking water limits for PFAS under the Safe Drinking Water Act and will require PFAS manufacturers to report on how toxic their products are. The agency also will designate PFAS as hazardous substances under the so-called Superfund law that allows the EPA to force companies responsible for the contamination to pay for the cleanup work or do it themselves.
“The Defense Department said it is moving to assess and clean up PFAS-contaminated sites throughout the country, while the Food and Drug Administration will expand testing of the food supply to estimate Americans’ exposure to PFAS from food. And the Agriculture Department will boost efforts to prevent and address PFAS contamination in food.”
(https://www.epa.gov/pfas/pfas-explained)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per-_and_polyfluoroalkyl_substances)
“It’s possible around 50 percent of the published psychological literature fails upon retesting, but no one knows precisely the extent of the instability in the foundations of psychological science.”
(https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/22360363/replication-crisis-psychological-science-accelerator)
Categories
Pandemic Poverty in the US
“Poverty in the US will be cut by 45% this year thanks to the massive government intervention during the pandemic, meaning 20 million fewer people are in poverty now than in 2018. The decline in poverty over the last three years is almost 3x the previous record drop.”
“The combined benefits have the largest impact on children, reducing their projected 2021 poverty rate 81 percent relative to what it would be without any benefits (from 30.1 percent to 5.6 percent).”
The United States of America has registered over 605,000 deaths in the COVID-19 pandemic, the highest national toll so far in the world.
(globalnews.ca/news/8001754/u-s-covid-deaths-unvaccinated-people/)
“US has almost twice as many confirmed coronavirus cases as the next worst-hit country, India, and almost 350,000 have died.”
“More than 10,000 Americans died in the last three days of 2020”
(https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/01/us-surpasses-20m-coronavirus-cases-on-new-years-day)
“On Nov. 12, the Department of Public Health reported 21 confirmed coronavirus deaths, bringing the total to 10,015.”
“Massachusetts has been one of the hardest hit states in the country in terms of the deadly impact of the coronavirus pandemic, with only New Jersey suffering more COVID deaths per capita.”
“The death count surged in Massachusetts at the outset of the pandemic, peaking during mid-April when the state averaged more than 170 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths per day, with a record daily high of 221 deaths reported on April 22.”
“Since Labor Day, cases have increased by more than 300 percent in Massachusetts, and hospitalizations have increased by 200 percent”
danelabonte 
