A Case For Switching From Self-Fulfilling Prophecies To Rights In AI Journalism

Journalists have mostly focused on AI news from a business lens, offering stakeholders reports on software utilities and their potential disruption. This application-based approach has left a gap with end-users, including journalists themselves, in questioning whether AI solutions are always desirable, and when so, whether citizen rights to data ownership and privacy are respected in the process. Following major security breaches and calls for big data regulation, this topic is compelling for journalistic examination as some citizens show reluctance over sharing personal information, even during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. In that context, very little academic research exists on how journalists cover AI news and therefore few guidelines exist on its best practices. In this essay, I summarize existing reports on how AI is covered, delineate what makes this news beat unique, and how journalists can co-opt rights-based approaches to engage their audience. Seven alternative angles are discussed in combination with practice advice for moving the journalism conversation on AI forward. This approach seeks to encourage further journalism studies research into the topic

Aging Well: How Subjective Age, Playfulness, and Depression Influence Quality of Life Among Older Adults

Given the growing population of aging adults, there is a need for research examining factors that enhance quality of life for older adults (QoL; Colby & Ortman, 2014). Changes in health, relationships, support systems, and social identity are inevitable throughout the lifespan. Therefore, research focused on lessening the negative effects of changes due to aging while also improving QoL is warranted. As such, the aim of the current research study was to examine the extent to which subjective age (SA; how old or young an individual feels), playfulness (PF; the ability to frame or reframe everyday situations to experience them as entertaining, intellectually stimulating, and/or personally interesting [Proyer, 2015, p. 93-94]), and depression (an emotional state ranging from mild discouragement to feelings of extreme despair [CDC, 2017; Corsini, 2002]) predict QoL ( a person\u27s sense of well-being that stems from satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the areas of life that are important to him or her [Ferrans, 1985, p. 15]) among adults over the age of 55. Using convenience sampling with eligibility requirements, adults (N = 1,315) 55 and older and who spoke and read English were surveyed both face-to-face (F2F) and online (e.g., Amazon Mechanical Turk and a senior educational program). Standard multiple regression was utilized, and results identified a statistically significant model with the variable of depression predicting the largest unique contribution to the model, while PF predicted a small, statistically significant contribution. Subjective age did not statistically contribute to the prediction. Implications from the findings that relate to counselors, counselor educators, and researchers are provided. In addition, the findings provide guidance and a new perspective on variables associated with QoL and aging adults

Proximal contact alterations between implant-supported restorations and adjacent teeth in the posterior region : a 3-month prospective study

Interproximal contact loss (ICL) is a multifactorial implant complication. The aims of this prospective clinical study were to evaluate proximal contact alterations between implant-supported fixed prostheses (IFPs) and adjacent teeth and to identify pote

In vitro evaluation of color changes of two different layering ceramics after thermocycling in coffee

Statement of the problem: Emphasis on the aesthetic result will always remain a key priority, especially in the anterior areas. Thus, the color stability of a restoration partially defines the success of this restoration over time. The most commonly used layering material is porcelain, which is in intimate contact with food and beverages in the oral cavity.Purpose: The purpose of this in-vitro study is to assess the color stability of two different layering porcelains after thermocycling in coffee, and then compare the color stability of these ceramics with each other.Materials and methods: Two blocks of E.max CAD shade A2 were cut in blue phase to have 40 identical 1 mm thick blocks (N= 40). The E.max blocks were then crystallized and a stainless steel device was manufactured, in which each block was inserted, and the layering ceramic was added to flare the outer edge of the device (2 mm of feldspathic porcelain in height). 20 blocks then received the type of ceramic E.max Ceram shade A1 (n= 20), and the other 20 the ceramic GC LiSi shade A1 (n= 20), then were placed in the furnace for firing and glazing according to the manufacturers’ recommendations. The blocks were numbered at the upper right corner with a red ring diamond bur of diameter 016 under water irrigation. Then, a 3D model was fabricated, in which each block was inserted in a cassette and reproducible points were recorded for each measurement. Using a spectrophotometer (Vita Easyshade Advance), 3 measurements L * a * b * of the color were taken for each block at time 0 (M1). All samples were then subjected to thermocycling (coffee at 55°C / distilled water at 5°C) for 1095 cycles simulating 1 year of clinical exposure to coffee. A second measurement (M2) is carried out, then the thermocycling continued until reaching 2190 cycles, at the end of which the third measurement (M3) was performed, and all the measurements transferred to Microsoft Excel software (2013). The L *, a * and b * data were then collected and the color change ΔE was calculated for each type of ceramic using the statistical software IBM SPSS Statistics (version 25.0).Results: A statistically significant difference in color was observed within the two groups, as well as between the types of ceramics. After 2190 cycles, 65% of E.max Ceram specimens were above the acceptable threshold while 90% of GC LiSi specimens were above the same threshold.Conclusion: The layering ceramics E.max Ceram and GC LiSi are both affected by coffee over time, but E.max Ceram seems much more stable than GC LiSi over 2 years of clinical simulation

Les dispositifs communicationnels qui font exister et font parler des peuples isolés d’Amazonie Brésilienne : une approche constitutive

En Amazonie Brésilienne, il existe des populations indigènes qui ne maintiennent pas de contacts réguliers avec les sociétés extérieures, qu’elles soient nationales ou indigènes. Il est ainsi difficile d’en apprendre sur leurs modes de vie, leurs habitudes et leurs caractéristiques. Malgré cette situation d’incommunicabilité, certaines organisations étudient ces peuples en isolement afin officiellement de mieux les comprendre et les protéger. Le gouvernement brésilien ainsi que certaines organisations non gouvernementales, avec le soutien d’anthropologues, tentent ainsi d’assurer la protection de leurs territoires pour éviter les menaces d’étrangers qui cherchent à tirer profit des nombreuses ressources de l’Amazonie. Cette protection territoriale entre dans le cadre des politiques indigénistes qui prévoient uniquement la surveillance des espaces amazoniens, sans envisager le contact avec les peuples qui y demeurent en isolement. C’est le travail de ces organisations qui m’a intéressée tout au long de cette recherche. J’ai ainsi tenté de mieux comprendre le travail de ces organisations en montrant comment elles en viennent à établir l’existence même de ces peuples. Afin de comprendre et analyser les activités de ces organisations, j’ai conduit un travail ethnographique à Brasilia et en Amazonie brésilienne. Ce travail m’a permis d’identifier et analyser trois dispositifs communicationnels que ces organisations mobilisent dans leur travail. Il y a d’abord le recueil des témoignages des peuples qui côtoient les isolés ou qui vivent avec eux pendant une période donnée. Ensuite, il y a la collecte et l’étude des choses que ces peuples laissent derrière eux dans la forêt. Enfin, le troisième dispositif repose sur la mise à disposition d’objets utilitaires que le gouvernement fournit aux isolés de manière indirecte. Comme je le montrerai, ce sont ces dispositifs qui permettent de faire exister et faire parler les peuples isolés par et pour ces organisations.In the Brazilian Amazon region, we find indigenous peoples that do not keep a regular contact with outsiders (national or other indigenous societies), which makes it hard to learn more about their lifestyles, habits and characteristics. Despite this situation of incommunicability, some organisations study these tribes in order, as they claim, to understand and protect them. The Brazilian government as well as non-governmental organisations, with the support of anthropologists, indeed try to guarantee the protection of these isolated people’s territories to prevent threats from foreign interests that look for resources from the Amazon. This territorial protection falls within the framework of indigenous policies that allow the monitoring of Amazonian areas, but forbids the establishment of contacts with the peoples who live in isolation. For this research, I focused on the work of these organisations. I therefore tried to understand how these organisations work by showing how they establish the existence of these peoples. In order to understand and analyse the activities of these organizations, I conducted an ethnographic study in Brasilia and in the Brazilian Amazon region. This enabled me to identify and analyse three communication devices. First, there is the device that consists of collecting the testimony of the peoples that live close to the isolated people or live with them for a given period. Then there are the things that the isolated leave behind them and that these organizations collect and study to better understand their way of life. Finally, the third device is based on utilitarian objects that these organizations leave in the forest for the isolated peoples. These three devices constitute the way by which these isolated peoples are made to exist and speak by these organizations

Perioperative use of oxygen: variabilities across age

Enormous interest has emerged in the perioperative use of high concentrations of inspired oxygen in an attempt to increase tissue oxygenation and thereby improve postoperative outcome. An extensive debate has arisen regarding the risk/benefit ratio of oxygen therapy, with some researchers advocating the benefits of perioperative hyperoxia, particularly with regard to surgical site infection, whereas others emphasize its detrimental consequences on multiple organs, particularly the lungs and the brain. As one aspect of this debate, there is increased awareness of effects of reactive oxygen metabolites, a feature that contributes to the complexity of achieving consensus regarding optimum oxygen concentration in the perioperative period. Many reviews have discussed the pros and cons in the use of perioperative oxygen supplementation, but the potential importance of age-related factors in hyperoxia has not been addressed. The present narrative review provides a comprehensive overview of the physiological mechanisms and clinical outcomes across the age range from neonates to the elderly. Risks greatly outweigh the benefits of hyperoxia both in the very young, where growth and development are the hallmarks, and in the elderly, where ageing increases sensitivity to oxidative stress. Conversely, in middle age, benefits of short-term administration of perioperative oxygen therapy exceed potential adverse change effects, and thus, oxygen supplementation can be considered an important therapy to improve anaesthesia managemen

First year mathematics undergraduates’ settled images of tangent line

This article was published in the serial, The Journal of Mathematical Behavior [© Elsevier]. The definitive version is available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0732312310000556This study concerns 182 first year mathematics undergraduates’ perspectives on the tangent line of function graph in the light of a previous study on Year 12 pupils’ perspectives. The aim was the investigation of tangency images that settle after undergraduates’ distancing from the notion for a few months and after their participation in university admission examination. To this end we related the performances of the undergraduates and the pupils in the same questions of a questionnaire; we classified the undergraduates in distinct groups through Latent Class Analysis; and, we examined this classification according to the Analytical Local, Geometrical Global and Intermediate Local perspectives on tangency we had identified among pupils. The findings suggest that more undergraduates than pupils demonstrated intermediate perspectives on tangency. Also, the undergraduates’ settled images were influenced by persistent images about tangency and their prior experience in the context of preparation for and participation in the examination

Effects of volatile anaesthetic agents on enhanced airway tone in sensitized guinea pigs

Background. Although volatile anaesthetics afford protection against bronchospasm, their potential to reverse a sustained constriction of hyperreactive airways has not been characterized. Accordingly, we investigated the ability of halothane, isoflurane, sevoflurane and desflurane to reverse lung constriction induced by prolonged stimulation of the muscarinic receptors in guinea pigs sensitized to ovalbumin. Methods. Pulmonary input impedance (ZL) was measured using forced oscillations in five groups of ovalbumin‐sensitized, mechanically ventilated guinea pigs. ZL was measured under baseline conditions, during steady‐state bronchoconstriction induced by an i.v. infusion of methacholine (MCh), and after administration of one of the volatile agents at 1 MAC after the induction of a steady‐state bronchoconstriction. Airway resistance (Raw), and parenchymal tissue resistive and elastic coefficients were extracted from ZL by model fitting. Results. All four volatile agents exhibited an initial relaxation of the MCh‐induced airway constriction followed by gradual increases in Raw. The bronchodilatory effect of isoflurane was the most potent (-28.9 (se 5.5)% at 2 min, P<0.05) and lasted longest (7 min); sevoflurane and halothane had shorter and more moderate effects (-21.1 (3.9)%, P<0.05, and -6.1 (1.7)%, P<0.05, respectively, at 1 min). Desflurane caused highly variable changes in Raw, with a tendency to enhance airway tone. Conclusions. Volatile agents can reverse sustained MCh‐induced airway constriction only transiently in sensitized guinea pigs. Isoflurane proved most beneficial in temporally improving lung function in the presence of a severe constriction of allergic inflamed airways. Desflurane displayed potential to induce further airway constriction. Br J Anaesth 2004; 92: 254-6

Sevoflurane and desflurane protect cholinergic-induced bronchoconstriction of hyperreactive airways in rabbits

Purpose: The potential of desflurane to alter respiratory mechanics in the presence of bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) is still a subject of debate. Accordingly, we evaluated the bronchoprotective potential of desflurane compared with sevoflurane following cholinergic lung constriction in rabbits with normal and hyperreactive airways. Methods: The input impedance of the respiratory system (Zrs) was measured during midazolam-based anesthesia before and during intravenous infusions of increasing doses of methacholine (MCh). The rabbits in the control group (Group C) were then randomized to receive either sevoflurane 1 MAC followed by desflurane 1 MAC or vice versa, whereas ovalbumin-sensitized rabbits received sevoflurane followed by desflurane (Group S-SD) or vice versa (Group S-DS). Baseline Zrs measurements and the MCh provocations were repeated under the maintenance of each volatile agent. Airway resistance (Raw), tissue damping (G), and elastance data were obtained from Zrs by model fitting. Results: Similar bronchoprotective effects of sevoflurane and desflurane against MCh-induced bronchoconstriction were observed independently of the severity of the bronchospasm and the presence of BHR. With sevoflurane, the decreases in Raw ranged from 22 (8.8)% to 44 (12)%, and with desflurane, they ranged from 22 (8.7)% to 50 (12)%. The increases in G reflecting the enhanced ventilation heterogeneities in the lung periphery were not affected by the volatile agents. Conclusions: If the contractile stimulus is cholinergic in origin, sevoflurane and desflurane exert similar bronchoprotective potentials to act against lung constriction independent of the presence of BHR. These volatile anesthetics otherwise lack a potential to improve the enhanced ventilation heterogeneities that develop particularly in the presence of BH