I have a rolling capital loss of $3000 that will be calculated/deducted from 2024 Adjusted Gross Income.
Healthcare.gov's Income Types base income on AGI from my federal tax return (which deducts Capital Loss). Soonercare Oklahoma Medicaid base on Modified AGI (which does NOT deduct Capital Loss).
I have contacted DHS/eligibility several times to see how to calculate that number into my income level for Medicaid qualification (Schedule D), but they say it doesn't count.
However, Affordable Care Act apparently DOES calculate that into my income (???) - and whether or not I am eligible for Medicaid vs qualified for Advanced Premium Tax Credits.
I seem to be in a total lose-lose situation poverty trap where my monthly MAGI calculated income disqualifies me from Medicaid as far as Oklahoma is concerned, and annual AGI calculated income disqualifies me for Advanced Premium Tax Credit because federal says my Capital Loss qualifies my income for Medicaid, but Medicaid says no.
How do I navigate this??? How do I get health insurance?

Hello! I have a couple questions about Social Security. I've been on SSDI since 2010 and have worked part time at the same job for 11 years. Due to the ongoing disability, I haven't been able to work much and I've stayed under income guidelines for every month but 1. I was recently sent a letter from Social Security saying that they have decided that my disability has ended and thus my SSDI benefits will be terminated. Several of my colleagues are experiencing a termination of their benefits as well. Has there been any major changes or policy decisions that may have triggered a statistically large percentage of people getting benefits denied?
An additional question: are there any lawyers in the area that you might recommend for an appeals case?
Thank you very much!

All time lurking here but I think it is eventually my turn to make my first post to ask for help.
I (USC) am sponsoring for my husband (married 2023) through AOS. When we submitted the I-485 package (March 2024), we also included the form I-864 done by me. My income is well above the poverty guideline. We just got a RFE for this I-864 with the text below. The last bullet point was bolded in RFE letter as well

You have submitted Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, from the petitioning sponsor, [my name]. We are unable to process the I-864 because it has one or more deficiencies. In order for us to process your application further, you must:
- Submit a complete copy of the petitioning sponsor’s Federal income tax return, including all supporting tax documents (W-2s, 1099s, Form 2555, and tax schedules) filed with the return, for the most recent tax year.

Here are the things I think we made mistakes on:

• We filed 2023 tax return as jointly married. In section 24.a, I wrote the calculated income from my W2 instead of the total income from tax return transcript.
• We are not sure if we included the tax return transcript of the last 3 years. I told my husband to print them out from our Google Drive, he is not sure if he printed them because I put these 3 files in a sub folder, and I don't have a clear recollection if they were there when we checked the package before mailing it.

Here are what I have currently for the RFE response:

1. A copy of the RFE letter.
2. A newly completed I-864 with the correct most recent income (the joint income number on our 2023 tax transcript) and checked 23.b box (the optional box indicating that I have attached photocopies or transcripts of my Federal income tax returns for my second and third most recent tax years).
3. 3 tax return transcripts: 2023, 2022, 2021.
4. All of my W2, 1099s; and his W2 (he only has W2); and my paystubs of last 6 months.
5. A full copy of our 2023 tax return from our accountant (8879, 1040, 8889, 8995, 1098).

Do you think I miss anything? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

i love this song but i was like, who the hell is shinzo abe? So I popped the lyrics in chatgpt and here's a lil breakdown for yall :)
​

1. Captain Planet: An animated environmental superhero TV series from the 1990s.
2. Arab Spring: A series of pro-democracy uprisings across the Arab world starting in 2010.
3. L.A. riots: Violent protests in Los Angeles in 1992 following the acquittal of police officers filmed beating Rodney King.
4. Rodney King: An African American man whose beating by LAPD officers in 1991 was videotaped and widely broadcast.
5. Deep fakes: AI-generated fake videos that can depict people doing or saying things they never did.
6. Earthquakes: Natural disasters caused by the movement of Earth's tectonic plates.
7. Iceland volcano: Refers to the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in 2010, which disrupted air travel across Europe.
8. Oklahoma City bomb: A domestic terrorist truck bombing on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995.
9. Kurt Cobain: The lead singer of Nirvana who died by suicide in 1994.
10. Pokémon: A media franchise created by Nintendo, featuring video games, trading cards, and an animated series.
11. Tiger Woods: A professional golfer who became famous in the late 1990s and faced personal scandal in the 2000s.
12. MySpace: A popular social networking site in the early 2000s.
13. Monsanto, GMOs: Monsanto is a company known for producing genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
14. Harry Potter: A globally popular book series by J.K. Rowling about a young wizard.
15. Twilight: A book and film series about vampires and werewolves by Stephenie Meyer.
16. Michael Jackson dies: The pop star Michael Jackson died in 2009.
17. Nuclear accident, Fukushima, Japan: The 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima following a major earthquake and tsunami.
18. Crimean Peninsula: The region annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014.
19. Cambridge Analytica: A data firm involved in a major Facebook data scandal during the 2016 US elections.
20. Kim Jong Un: The Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011.
21. Robert Downey Jr., Iron Man: Actor Robert Downey Jr. revitalized his career by playing Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
22. More war in Afghanistan: Refers to the prolonged conflict in Afghanistan that began in 2001.
23. Cubs go all the way again: The Chicago Cubs winning the World Series in 2016 after a 108-year drought.
24. Obama: Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017.
25. Spielberg: Steven Spielberg, a renowned filmmaker.
26. Explosion, Lebanon: Refers to the massive explosion in Beirut in 2020.
27. Unabomber: Ted Kaczynski, who conducted a nationwide bombing campaign in the US.
28. Bobbitt, John: John Bobbitt was famously assaulted by his wife Lorena in 1993.
29. Bombing Boston Marathon: The terrorist bombing at the 2013 Boston Marathon.
30. Balloon Boy: A 2009 hoax where parents claimed their son was trapped in a runaway balloon.
31. War on Terror: The international military campaign launched by the US after 9/11.
32. QAnon: A conspiracy theory alleging a secret plot against President Trump.
33. Trump gets impeached twice: Donald Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives in 2019 and 2021.
34. Polar bears got no ice: Refers to the melting ice caps affecting polar bear habitats.
35. Fyre Fest: A fraudulent luxury music festival in 2017.
36. Black Parade: Refers to the album by the band My Chemical Romance.
37. Michael Phelps: An Olympic swimmer known for winning 23 gold medals.
38. Y2K: The Year 2000 problem, a computer bug related to the formatting of calendar data.
39. Boris Johnson: The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
40. Brexit: The United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union.
41. Kanye West and Taylor Swift: Refers to Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift's VMA acceptance speech in 2009.
42. Stranger Things: A popular science fiction TV series on Netflix.
43. Tiger King: A true crime documentary series about exotic animal owner Joe Exotic.
44. Ever Given, Suez: The container ship that blocked the Suez Canal in 2021.
45. Sandy Hook: The 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
46. Columbine: The 1999 school shooting in Columbine, Colorado.
47. Sandra Bland and Tamir Rice: Both African Americans whose deaths sparked nationwide protests.
48. ISIS: The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a terrorist organization.
49. LeBron James: A professional basketball player widely regarded as one of the greatest.
50. Shinzo Abe blown away: Refers to the assassination of Japan's former Prime Minister in 2022.
51. Meghan Markle: An actress who married Prince Harry and became the Duchess of Sussex.
52. George Floyd: His death in police custody in 2020 sparked worldwide protests against police brutality.
53. Burj Khalifa: The tallest building in the world, located in Dubai.
54. Metroid: A popular video game series by Nintendo.
55. Fermi paradox: The apparent contradiction between the lack of evidence for extraterrestrial civilizations and various high estimates for their probability.
56. Venus and Serena: Venus and Serena Williams, famous tennis players.
57. Michael Jordan, 23: Refers to Michael Jordan, a legendary basketball player who wore the number 23.
58. YouTube killed MTV: The rise of YouTube led to the decline of music television (MTV).
59. SpongeBob: An iconic animated TV show.
60. Golden State Killer got caught: Refers to the arrest of the Golden State Killer in 2018.
61. Michael Jordan, 45: Refers to Jordan's brief return to basketball wearing the number 45.
62. Woodstock '99: A music festival that ended in riots and fires.
63. Keaton, Batman: Michael Keaton, who played Batman in the 1989 film.
64. Bush v. Gore: The controversial 2000 US presidential election.
65. Elon Musk: Entrepreneur known for SpaceX, Tesla, and other ventures.
66. Kaepernick: Colin Kaepernick, who protested police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem.
67. Texas failed electric grid: The power grid failure in Texas during a 2021 winter storm.
68. Jeff Bezos: Founder of Amazon and a prominent billionaire.
69. Climate change: The ongoing global issue of climate alteration due to human activities.
70. White rhino goes extinct: The Northern White Rhino was declared functionally extinct.
71. Great Pacific Garbage Patch: A massive area of marine debris in the Pacific Ocean.
72. Tom DeLonge and aliens: Former Blink-182 member known for his interest in UFOs.
73. Mars rover: NASA's robotic vehicles exploring Mars.
74. Avatar: James Cameron's 2009 blockbuster film.
75. Self-driving electric cars: Autonomous vehicles powered by electricity.
76. SSRI's: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, a type of antidepressant.
77. Prince and The Queen die: Refers to the deaths of musician Prince and Queen Elizabeth II.
78. World trade, second plane: Refers to the 9/11 attacks when the second plane hit the World Trade Center.

This information was originally posted on the Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust Website, and their references are cited at the bottom of this post.

What is HPV?
HPV is the name of a common virus. It infects the skin and any moist membrane (mucosa). This includes the:

• cervix
• vagina
• vulva
• anus (back passage)
• lining of your mouth and throat.

Most people will get HPV at some point in their lives. They often won’t even know they have it — it usually goes away without causing any problems.

Who can get HPV?
If you have ever had any sexual contact, you may have HPV. It is passed on through skin-to-skin contact. For HPV that affects the genitals, this includes vaginal, anal and oral sex. You can also get HPV through touching in the genital area and sharing sex toys.

Are there different types of HPV?
Yes — there are over 200 types. Some can be called ‘low-risk’ or ‘high-risk’ HPV depending on whether they are linked to cancer.
Low-risk HPV may not cause any problems. They sometimes lead to warts on your hands, feet or genitals.
14 types of HPV are called ‘high-risk’. These are the ones linked to cancer. The high-risk types of HPV are 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 66 and 68.
High-risk HPV types 16 and 18 cause over 7 in 10 of all cervical cancers. In most people, HPV goes away within 2 years without causing any problems.

Will I get cancer if I have HPV?
Although most cervical cancer is caused by high-risk HPV, having the virus does not mean you will get cell changes or cancer. About 9 in 10 people get rid of HPV within 2 years, without it causing any problems. This includes high-risk HPV types.
If you are eligible, cervical screening and the HPV vaccine can help reduce your risk of developing cell changes or cervical cancer.

Is it true that HPV can stay in my body for a long time without me knowing?
Yes. Usually, your immune system gets rid of HPV within 2 years. But in some cases, HPV may stay in your body for longer.
Sometimes HPV does not cause any harm and will not be picked up by a test. We call this ‘dormant’ or ‘clinically insignificant’ HPV.
Occasionally, dormant HPV can become active again and may start to cause cervical cell changes. HPV that has become active would be detected with a test.
We don’t know exactly why this happens yet, but it may be because of changes in your immune system over time. It is important to remember that cervical screening (previously called a ‘smear test’) can help find HPV and any cell changes early.

Is sexual contact the only way of getting HPV?
We are still learning a lot about HPV. Some evidence suggests it may also be passed on during childbirth. However, the risk of this is low. Studies show that when babies do get HPV, their bodies usually clear it within 2 years.
There are reports of some babies who have HPV in their throat getting something called ‘recurrent respiratory papillomatosis’ or ‘RRP’. This is where warts appear in their airways, and this may make breathing difficult.
RRP is rare and can be treated. It has become even more rare now that HPV vaccination is available.
We understand that the thought of passing on HPV in this way may be worrying. But it is important to know that evidence suggests it is unlikely. If you have concerns, it may help to talk them through with your GP or midwife.
Can I get the same type of HPV more than once?
It might be possible for this to happen. This is because different people can have different levels of natural immunity to HPV.
Natural immunity is where your immune system remembers a virus from when you had it naturally in the past. It means if you get that virus again, your body can destroy it quickly before it causes any problems.
Some of us have low natural immunity to HPV, so it might be possible for you to get the same HPV type more than once.
Cervical screening helps to find HPV early. The HPV vaccine protects against the HPV types that cause 7 in 10 cervical cancers. Immunity from the vaccine is stronger than natural immunity.

As I get older, will I be less able to get rid of HPV?
Studies show it may be harder to clear HPV as you get older. Scientists also think other things could affect how likely you are to get rid of HPV. It might be affected by your immune system — some people’s bodies find it easier to fight HPV than others. It could also depend on the HPV type you have and whether you smoke. Smoking is thought to make you less likely to clear an infection.
It is important to remember that cervical screening (previously called a ‘smear test’) will help find HPV and cell changes early.

Can HPV be treated?
There is no treatment for HPV itself. But there are treatments for conditions caused by HPV, including genital warts, cervical cell changes and cancer.

Is there a test for HPV?
There are certain HPV tests in the UK for women and people with a cervix. These are done as part of the NHS cervical screening programme.

Can I ask for an HPV test at any time?
HPV tests are only available free as part of the NHS cervical screening programme. Women and people with a cervix that are 25–64 years old are invited for cervical screening.
In England and Northern Ireland, you are invited for cervical screening every 3 or 5 years, depending on your age. In Scotland and Wales, you are invited every 5 years — it does not matter how old you are.

If I have HPV, can I ask for my partner to have a test too?
HPV tests are only available for free when invited as part of the NHS cervical screening programme. Women and people with a cervix that are 25–64 years old are invited for cervical screening. There is no HPV test for men or people without a cervix available on the NHS.

Can men have a test for HPV?
There is currently no HPV test for men or people without a cervix available on the NHS.
HPV tests are available privately for a cost.

Is HPV the same virus that causes genital warts and cervical cancer?
Yes — but the types of HPV that cause genital warts and the ones that cause cervical cancer are different.
HPV types that cause genital warts are called ‘low-risk’. Those that can cause cervical cancer are called ‘high-risk’. Having genital warts does not mean you are more likely to get cancer.
HPV 6 and 11 are the most common low-risk types that can infect the genitals. They cause around 9 in 10 cases of genital warts. High-risk HPV types 16 and 18 cause more than 7 in 10 cervical cancers. The HPV vaccines used by the NHS include protection for these HPV types.

If I have genital warts, or have had them before, am I more likely to get cervical cancer?
No — genital warts do not cause cancer. The HPV types that cause genital warts are called ‘low-risk’ because they are not thought to be linked to cervical cancer. Most cervical cancer is caused by other types of HPV, called ‘high-risk’ HPV.
Does the HPV vaccine protect against genital warts?
The HPV vaccines given in schools and privately protects against HPV 6 and 11. These cause about 9 in 10 cases of genital warts.

Can I completely protect against genital warts?
Genital warts are caused by HPV. You can’t fully protect against HPV because it lives on the skin. But there are some ways to reduce your risk of getting it, including:

• getting the HPV vaccine — it protects against 9 in 10 cases of genital warts
• having safe sex using a condom or dental dam (a thin plastic square used to cover the anus or vagina during oral sex). However, these don’t fully protect you, as they only cover part of the genital area.

Do all HPV types cause cervical cancer?
No — most HPV types do not cause problems. Some cause warts on the hands, feet or genitals.
14 HPV types have been linked to cancer. These types are called 'high-risk' HPV. High-risk HPV can cause cancer of the cervix, vagina, anus, vulva, penis, and some head and neck cancers.
The high-risk HPV types are 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 66 and 68. Types 16 and 18 cause over 7 in 10 of all cervical cancers.

If HPV is so common, why don’t more of us get cervical cancer?
Your immune system usually gets rid of HPV by itself. For 9 in 10 of us, this happens within 2 years.
Sometimes, HPV will remain in your body and it might cause cells to change. Changed cells may turn into cervical cancer over time if they persist and are not monitored or treated.
Cervical screening (previously called a ‘smear test’) can find HPV and changed cells early. Most cell changes can be treated and will not develop into cervical cancer.
For a small number of women and people with a cervix, cell changes happen very quickly between cervical screening appointments. Sometimes, cell changes are not found by cervical screening, but this is rare.

If I’ve had cell changes or cervical cancer caused by high-risk HPV, can I get HPV again?
It might be possible for you to get HPV again. This may be the same HPV type your body had before. But you could get a type you have not had. If you have had one type of HPV, it is less likely you will be infected with that type again.
Sometimes when your body gets rid of a virus, it can remember it too. This means that if you get that virus again, your immune system can destroy it quickly before it causes any problems. When you are infected with a virus naturally and your body remembers it, this is called ‘natural immunity’.
Because we are all different, some people have lower natural immunity to HPV than others. We are also unsure how much natural immunity to one HPV type might protect you from another type. This means it may be possible for you to get the same HPV type again, or a type which you haven’t had before.

In the past, I had cervical cell changes that went away by themselves. Does this mean my immune system is now strong enough to fight HPV on its own?
It might be possible for you to get HPV again — it could be an HPV type your body has cleared before, or a new type.
Scientists think lots of things might affect how your body fights HPV. Some studies show it may be harder for you to get rid of HPV as you get older. Scientists also think it is affected by your natural immunity.
Natural immunity is where your body remembers a virus from when you had it naturally in the past. If you get that virus again, your immune system can destroy it quickly before it causes any problems.
Levels of natural immunity can be different from person to person — so natural immunity to HPV is low for some of us. This means you might be able to get an HPV type you’ve had before.
It is also unclear how much natural immunity to one type of HPV protects against other types. Evidence suggests that some types are harder than others for your body to get rid of.

If I have, or had, cervical cell changes, am I at risk of getting an HPV-related cancer?
There is a higher risk of developing an HPV-related cancer if you have cell changes in your cervix. This is also the case if you have had them in the past. The level of risk depends on how much the cells have, or had, changed compared to normal cells. This can be called the ‘grade’ of cell changes.
Low-grade changes rarely turn into cancer. Most cases clear up by themselves. High-grade changes are more likely to turn into cancer than low-grade changes.
It is important to remember that cell changes are not cancer. If you have them, or have had them before, it does not mean you will get cancer. It just means you are at more risk of getting cancer compared to someone who doesn’t have cell changes.

If I have, or had, cervical cancer, am I at risk of getting another HPV-related cancer?
If you have, or have had, cervical cancer, there is a higher risk of getting another cancer linked to high-risk HPV. There is not much evidence on how big this risk is.

Does having HPV mean my partner has been unfaithful?
No, this does not mean your partner has been unfaithful. It is hard to know who you got HPV from, or when. This is because HPV can be ‘dormant’ or ‘clinically insignificant’. This means it can be in your body for a long time without causing any problems or being picked up by a test. It might become active later and then found with a test, even if you’ve been with a partner for many years.

If my partner or I have HPV, will we keep passing it between each other?
It may be possible for two people in a monogamous relationship to both have the same type of HPV for a long time. However, this does not mean that it will cause symptoms or problems.
It also does not mean that you or your partner will have cell changes or get cancer. It might help to remember that nearly all people who have had sexual contact will get HPV at some point in their life.
Reinfection might happen within couples because different people can have different levels of natural immunity to HPV. Natural immunity is when your body remembers a virus from when you got it naturally in the past. If you get that virus again, your body can destroy it before it causes problems.
Studies show natural immunity to HPV can be low for some of us. This means that reinfection might happen within couples.
Although they don’t fully protect against HPV, condoms and dental dams (thin plastic square used to cover the anus or vagina during oral sex) can reduce your risk of HPV infection. Evidence suggests the HPV vaccine also protects you from HPV reinfection.

I am LGBTQ+. Am I at risk of getting HPV?
Anyone who has ever had any sexual contact can get HPV. Sexual contact includes:

• vaginal sex
• anal sex
• oral sex
• touching in the genital area
• sharing sex toys.

I’ve only had sex with one person. Will I still get HPV?
It is possible to get HPV if you have only had sexual contact with one person. Sexual contact includes:

• vaginal sex
• anal sex
• oral sex
• touching in the genital area
• sharing sex toys.

This is because your partner may have had more than one sexual contact. HPV is a common virus and is spread by skin-to-skin contact. 8 in 10 of us will have HPV at some point in our lives. The highest rates of HPV are in sexually active people up to the age of 25. But you can get HPV at any age.
Having HPV isn’t a sign that someone has had sexual contact with a lot of people. It also doesn’t mean someone has been unfaithful to a partner.
The risk of getting HPV increases with the number of sexual partners someone has, or the number of sexual partners their partner has had. But that is just because there is a higher chance of being exposed to HPV.

I’m sexually active but don’t currently have penetrative sex. Can I still get HPV?
Yes, you could still get HPV. This is because it is passed is on through skin-to-skin contact. This means you can get it without having penetrative sex. You can get it through oral sex, touching in the genital area and sharing sex toys.

Am I still at risk of getting HPV if I have a new sexual partner but use contraception?
Using barrier protection helps reduce your chance of getting HPV. This includes using:

• condoms
• dental dams (a thin plastic square used to cover the anus or vagina during oral sex)

However, these won’t completely get rid of the risk. This is because HPV lives on the skin in and around the whole genital area. Condoms and dental dams only cover some of your genitals.

In men, women and people with a cervix, genital HPV can affect the:

• vagina
• vulva (the lips surrounding the vagina and the clitoris)
• cervix
• anus or ‘back passage’
• penis
• scrotum (the skin that covers the testicles)
• perineal skin (the area between the anus and the scrotum or vulva)

Other forms of contraception, such as oral contraceptive pills, do not protect against HPV.
I haven’t had sex for a long time. Could I still have HPV?
Yes — anybody who has ever been sexually active may have HPV. In most cases, your body gets rid of HPV within 2 years. But sometimes it can stay in our bodies for longer without causing any problems or showing up with a test. This is called ‘dormant’ or ‘clinically insignificant’ HPV.
This HPV can become active again. It may start to cause cell changes in the cervix. This active HPV would be detected with a test.

Do I have to tell current or future partners that I have HPV?
It is completely up to you. There is no official guidance or recommendation that you should tell anyone if you have HPV.

References

• Royal College of Nursing. 2020. Human Papillomavirus (HPV), Cervical Screening and Cervical Cancer.
• World Health Organization. Regional Office for Europe. 2020. Questions and answers about human papillomavirus (‎HPV)‎.
• UK Health Security Agency. 2022. Immunisation against infectious disease – Chapter 18a: Human papillomavirus (HPV).
• Malagón T, et al. 2022. Proportion of incident genital human papillomavirus detections not attributable to transmission and potentially attributable to latent infections: implications for cervical cancer screening. Clin Infect Dis. 75(3):365–371.
• Trottier H, et al. 2010. Human papillomavirus infection and reinfection in adult women: the role of sexual activity and natural immunity. Cancer Res. 70(21):8569–8577.
• Chambuso RS, et al. 2020. Personalized Human Papillomavirus Vaccination for Persistence of Immunity for Cervical Cancer Prevention: A Critical Review With Experts' Opinions. Front Oncol. 10:548.
• Nicoli F, et al. 2020. HPV-specific systemic antibody responses and memory B cells are independently maintained up to 6 years and in a vaccine-specific manner following immunization with Cervarix and Gardasil in adolescent and young adult women in vaccination programs in Italy. Vaccines (Basel). 8(1):26.
• Kechagias KS, et al. 2022. Role of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination on HPV infection and recurrence of HPV related disease after local surgical treatment: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ. 378:e070135.
• Syrjänen S, et al. 2022. Maternal HPV-antibodies and seroconversion to HPV in children during the first 3 years of life. Sci Rep. 12(1):2227.
• Elisia I, et al. 2020. The effect of smoking on chronic inflammation, immune function and blood cell composition. Sci Rep. 10(1):19480.
• Public Health England. 2021. Cervical screening care pathway.
• Gilson R, et al. 2020. 2019 IUSTI-Europe guideline for the management of anogenital warts. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 34(8):1644–1653.
• Roden RBS and Stern PL. 2018. Opportunities and challenges for human papillomavirus vaccination in cancer. Nat Rev Cancer. 18(4):240–254.
• Della Fera AN, et al. 2021. Persistent Human Papillomavirus Infection. Viruses. 13(2):321.
• Rebolj M, et al. 2022. Extension of cervical screening intervals with primary human papillomavirus testing: observational study of English screening pilot data. BMJ. 377:e068776.
• Gilbert DC, et al. 2019. Increased risk of second cancers at sites associated with HPV after a prior HPV-associated malignancy, a systematic review and meta-analysis. *Br J Cancer.*120(2):256–268.
• Beachler DC, et al. 2016. Natural Acquired Immunity Against Subsequent Genital Human Papillomavirus Infection: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. J Infect Dis. 213(9):1444-1454.

Today I received an RFE regarding my joint sponsor
"Based on the documents submitted with Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, for the joint sponsor, XXXXX, the income did not meet 125 percent (100 percent if military) of the poverty guideline for the petitionesponsor's household size."
Along with the I-864 form, we added my joint sponsor's Tax Return for 2023 form 1040 (income 120k $ and total assets over 3 million dollars). How is that not enough for a joint sponsor? His household is just himself.
Can anyone please help me regarding what's the best way to answer? Are we lacking supporting evidence? If yes, what should we include?

Hello!
I tried messaging my father’s medi-cal case worker five months ago and I still haven’t received a response. I can never get anyone on the phone and my job doesn’t allow me flexible time off to go in person.
My father is disabled, 71 years only with his only income as social security. His medi-cal monthly share of cost is $1300 and after his Medicare premium deduction he only brings in $1784 so he cannot afford to pay his share of cost every month, plus rent, groceries and other expenses. His food stamp benefit is $23 a month. I’ve been trying to find ways to lower his share of cost because he needs a caretaker and I’d love to have him get help through IHSS but again, he can’t pay that share of cost monthly, it’s not realistic.
I’ve been looking into options and I found something called the aged and disabled federal poverty level program and it seems he could potentially qualify for a zero share of cost if I can get his countable income down to $1732 if I purchase him a private health plan and the amount he pays that per month will bring his countable income down. Is this accurate? If so, does anyone have any recommendations on plans just so I can help him get that share of cost lowered?
Any help is appreciated.
Age: 71 Male Disabled Zip: 93455 State: California Social security monthly benefit: $1958.50 Medicare premium: $174.70 Medi-cal share of cost: $1339

Happy Monday, /movieaweek'ers; new week, new genre!
As always, we invite any and all members to submit nominations as well to diversify our voting pool. To do so, follow the submission criteria below. :-)
This week's genre is LGBTQ!. Nominations this week can be any film with a LGBTQ-featured character or plot available to stream on Netflix.
And don't forget to check out our current discussion for our International winner: The Man From Nowhere (2010)
Movie Nomination Etiquette:

• Movies must be available on the US Netflix Instant.
  
• Nomination posts must contain a link to the movie's Netflix page and a link to the movie's IMDb page or Wikipedia page.
  
• Please include a brief synopsis of the movie. No spoilers!
  
• You may nominate more than one movie, however, please only nominate one movie per day.
  
• Please check the list of past winners before posting, to ensure that your movie has never been chosen. Any movie that has already been discussed will be removed.
  

Any nomination not following these guidelines will be removed.
And, as always; if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to message the mods!

Staying current with the latest advancements in gynecological care is essential for healthcare professionals to provide the best possible patient care. Here are several strategies that can help:
Continuing Medical Education (CME):

• Participating in CME activities is a key way for healthcare professionals to stay updated. These can include attending workshops, seminars, and conferences, many of which are offered by professional organizations like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).

Professional Journals:

• Subscribing to and regularly reading leading gynecology and obstetrics journals, such as the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology or Obstetrics & Gynecology, helps clinicians stay informed about the latest research findings and clinical practices.

Online Medical Databases:

• Utilizing online resources like PubMed, Medline, and Cochrane Library to access the latest research articles and reviews. These databases provide comprehensive and up-to-date information on a wide range of medical topics.

Professional Organizations:

• Membership in professional organizations such as ACOG, the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), and similar groups provides access to valuable resources, including guidelines, position statements, and updates on recent advancements.

Conferences and Workshops:

• Attending national and international conferences and workshops offers opportunities to learn about new technologies, treatment protocols, and research directly from experts in the field. These events often include hands-on training and live demonstrations.

Webinars and Online Courses:

• Engaging in webinars and online courses allows for flexible learning opportunities. Many professional organizations and academic institutions offer these as a way to provide updates on recent advancements and best practices.

Collaboration and Networking:

• Networking with colleagues and participating in professional forums and discussion groups can provide insights into how other practitioners are implementing new techniques and treatments. Collaborative research and shared clinical experiences can also contribute to staying informed.

Clinical Guidelines and Protocols:

• Regularly reviewing updated clinical guidelines and protocols from reputable sources such as ACOG, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and the World Health Organization (WHO) ensures adherence to the latest standards of care.

Mentorship and Teaching:

• Engaging in teaching and mentoring roles can also help stay current. Preparing lectures and training sessions for students and residents often requires thorough research and understanding of the latest advancements.

Technological Tools:

• Utilizing apps and online platforms designed for medical professionals can provide quick access to the latest research, guidelines, and news in gynecology.

Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Representatives:

• Meeting with representatives from pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers can provide information about the latest drugs, treatments, and technologies available.

By combining these strategies, gynecological healthcare professionals can ensure they remain knowledgeable about the latest advancements and continue to provide high-quality care to their patients.

I have the top five sections of a rohn 320ft SSV tower. This is how the tower was dis-assembled years ago, just the top five sections were put up as a tower and taken down years ago.
I am now refurbishing it, inspecting the welds, re-galving and repainting it.
My next steps are to calculate the foundation requirements and wind surface area maximum's at the top.
Im pretty sure that information is all there in the spec sheet, but I need some guidance to understand the terminology on that spec sheet.
For wind load, on page 3, the column where it mentions "allowable projected area", tower top rounds (flats), the rounds are probably surface area of rods (omni antenna) and the flats are the surface areas of sector and dishes?
For foundation base, on page 5, for the 5N tower, is it saying that I need a 8ft 9inch square pad, that is 4ft deep? My soil is sandy, and while I have not done a soil pressure test, I would think its more loose than other soils with clay in it. Should I be doing these calculations on my own rather than following general guidelines from this rohn datasheet?

DAY: MAY 26 2024
5-26-2024

AI CHATBOTS ARE INTRUDING INTO ONLINE COMMUNITIES WHERE PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO CONNECT WITH OTHER HUMANS

A parent asked a question in a private Facebook group in April 2024: Does anyone with a child who is both gifted and disabled have any experience with New York City public schools? The parent received a seemingly helpful answer that laid out some characteristics of a specific school, beginning with the context that “I have a child who is also 2e,” meaning twice exceptional. On a Facebook group for swapping unwanted items near Boston, a user looking for specific items received an offer of a “gently used” Canon camera
5-26-2024

MICROSOFT’S AI CHATBOT WILL ‘RECALL’ EVERYTHING YOU DO ON A PC

Microsoft wants laptop users to get so comfortable with its artificial intelligence chatbot that it will remember everything you’re doing on your computer and help figure out what you want to do next. The software giant on Monday revealed a new class of AI-imbued personal
5-26-2024

AI RELIES ON MASS SURVEILLANCE, WARNS SIGNAL BOSS

The AI tools that crunch numbers, generate text and videos and find patterns in data rely on mass surveillance and exercise concerning control over our lives, the boss of encrypted messaging app Signal told AFP on Thursday. Pushing back against the unquestioning enthusiasm at VivaTech in Paris, Europe’s top startup conference where industry players vaunt the merits of their products, Meredith Whittaker said concerns about surveillance and those about AI were “two framings
5-26-2024

THE ‘DEAD INTERNET THEORY’ MAKES EERIE CLAIMS ABOUT AN AI-RUN WEB. THE TRUTH IS MORE SINISTER

An example of a shrimp Jesus image on Facebook with no caption or context information included in the post. Credit: Facebook If you search “shrimp Jesus” on Facebook, you might encounter dozens of images of artificial intelligence (AI) generated crustaceans meshed in various forms with a stereotypical image of Jesus Christ. Some of these hyper-realistic images have garnered more than 20,000 likes and comments. So what exactly is going on here? The “dead internet theory” has an explanation: AI and bot-generated content has surpassed the human-generated internet. But where did
5-26-2024

WHAT ARE DEEPFAKES AND SHOULD WE BE WORRIED?

Deepfakes are creating havoc across the globe, spreading fake news and pornography, being used to steal identities, exploiting celebrities, scamming ordinary people and even influencing elections. Yet a worldwide survey found 71% of people have no idea what deepfakes are. Deepfakes are digital photos, videos or voices of real people that have either been synthetically created or manipulated using artificial intelligence (AI) and can be hard to distinguish from the real thing. You’ve probably seen a deepfake video or photo without even realizing it. Computer-generated Tom Cruises,
5-26-2024

META INTRODUCES CHAMELEON, AN EARLY-FUSION MULTIMODAL MODEL

Chameleon represents all modalities—images, text, and code, as discrete tokens and uses a uniform transformer-based architecture that is trained from scratch in an end-to-end fashion on ?10T tokens of interleaved mixed-modal data. As a result, Chameleon can both reason over, as well as generate, arbitrary mixed-modal documents. Text tokens are represented in green and image tokens are represented in blue. AI researchers at Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and many other products, have designed and built a multimodal model to compete with
5-26-2024

ELECTRIC SCHOOL BUSES MAY YIELD SIGNIFICANT HEALTH AND CLIMATE BENEFITS, COST SAVINGS

Replacing diesel school buses with electric school buses may yield up to $247,600 in climate and health benefits per individual bus, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The researchers found that these benefits—including fewer greenhouse gas emissions and reduced rates of adult mortality and childhood asthma—and their associated savings are strongest in large cities and among fleets of old (2005 and before) buses. The study, “Adopting electric school buses in the United States: health and climate benefits,” was published in the
5-26-2024

WEARABLE DEVICES GET SIGNAL BOOST FROM NEW MATERIAL

Strain-invariant stretchable wireless system enabled by dielectro-elastic composite. A new material that moves like skin while preserving signal strength in electronics could enable the development of next-generation wearable devices with continuous, consistent wireless and battery-free functionality. According to a study published today in Nature, an international team of researchers from Rice University and Hanyang University developed the material by embedding clusters of highly dielectric ceramic nanoparticles into an elastic polymer. The material was reverse-engineered to not only mimic skin elasticity and motion types, but also
5-26-2024

AI DOMINATES ANNUAL PARIS STARTUP EVENT VIVATECH

Vivatech will host more than 150,000 guests, 11,000 startups and 450 speakers over four days. Thousands of tech enthusiasts filed into Europe’s self-declared biggest startup event VivaTech in Paris on Wednesday, with artificial intelligence stealing the show this year. Over four days, the event, now in its eighth year, will host more than 150,000 guests, 11,000 startups and 450 speakers, according to the organizers. The star turns will take to the stage on Thursday—former US climate envoy and secretary of state John Kerry is expected to make a push for
5-26-2024

AI POISED TO USHER IN NEW LEVEL OF CONCIERGE SERVICES TO THE PUBLIC

AI concierge’s fundamental forms. Credit: Journal of Service Management (2024). Concierge services built on artificial intelligence have the potential to improve how hotels and other service businesses interact with customers, a new paper suggests. In the first work to introduce the concept, researchers have outlined the role an AI concierge, a technologically advanced assistant, may play in various areas of the service sector as well as the different forms such a helper might embody. Their paper envisions a virtual caretaker that, by combining natural language processing, behavioral data
5-26-2024

AGE VERIFICATION FOR SOCIAL MEDIA WOULD IMPACT EVERYONE—RESEARCHERS ASK PARENTS AND KIDS IF THEY ACTUALLY WANT IT

by Justine Humphry, Catherine Page Jeffery, Jonathon Hutchinson and Olga Boichak, The Conversation This month the Australian government announced a A$6.5 million commitment to trial an age-verification program that will restrict children’s exposure to inappropriate online content, including pornography and potentially social media. The announcement came out of a National Cabinet meeting geared towards addressing gender-based violence in Australia. Much has been said about age-checking technologies in the weeks since. Experts point out implementing these tools effectively (so they aren’t easily by-passed) will be complicated—and any such system could come
5-26-2024

IS IT SAFE TO FLY? AIRLINE SAFETY EXPERT ON MODERN COMMERCIAL FLIGHT

In light of recent news regarding congressional action on aviation safety, Penn State News spoke with Amy Pritchett, department head of aerospace engineering and professor in Penn State’s College of Engineering. Pritchett previously served as the director of NASA’s Aviation Safety Program and currently chairs the National Academies committee chartered to research and advise federal regulators on emerging trends in aviation safety. In
5-26-2024

USING SMART DEVICES TO SCHEDULE ON-DEMAND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION CAN SAVE TIME AND MONEY

Suburban residents often face challenges receiving reliable and accessible bus transit—riders often complain about infrequent schedules and long waiting times. Often, transit agencies are unable to provide additional buses because population density in such areas is usually low. On-demand transit (ODT) is an innovative transportation approach that enhances the accessibility and quality of service while reducing operating costs. Despite the rapid growth of ODT services in various cities across Canada and the United States, the mechanism of
5-26-2024

UNDERWATER SIGNALS GENERATED BY OPEN SEA AIRPLANE CRASHES COULD BE KEY TO DETECTING FINAL RESTING PLACE OF MH370

Location of the CTBTO’s hydroacoustic stations H11N and H11S (white triangles); the impact location of three aircrafts (indicated in yellow): F-35a, Transair Flight 810, and Asiana Flight 991; and the distances and bearings relative to the hydroacoustic stations (presented in magenta). The cyan star shows the location of earthquake M 4.8–9 km S of Y?kaichiba, Japan, 2014-03-07 18:34:20 (UTC) 35.611o N 140.552o E 23.9 km depth. Signals captured on underwater microphones could be key to locating airplanes such as MH370 when they crash into
5-26-2024

SURVEY INVESTIGATES AI TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CLASSIFICATION AND CREATION OF ART

A comprehensive survey has looked at the intersection of art and artificial intelligence (AI). The team has focused on how AI technologies are employed in the classification and also the creation of artworks. Andrej Šimi? and Marina Bagi? Babac of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing at the University of Zagreb have analyzed and categorized a number of research papers in this field to understand the methodologies, techniques, and outcomes in this emerging field. They discuss
5-26-2024

CYBERSECURITY LABELING FOR SMART DEVICES AIMS TO HELP PEOPLE CHOOSE ITEMS LESS LIKELY TO BE HACKED

Smart devices like baby monitors, fitness trackers and internet-connected appliances will soon be eligible for labels certifying that they meet federal cybersecurity standards. Federal officials said Wednesday that the first “Cyber Trust” labels could appear in time for the holiday shopping season. The White House announced the labels last year to help consumers avoid devices that are vulnerable to hacking. Credit: AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File Consumer labels
5-26-2024

WORLD LEADERS STILL NEED TO WAKE UP TO AI RISKS, SAY LEADING EXPERTS AHEAD OF AI SAFETY SUMMIT

Leading AI scientists are calling for stronger action on AI risks from world leaders, warning that progress has been insufficient since the first AI Safety Summit in Bletchley Park six months ago. Then, the world’s leaders pledged to govern AI responsibly. However, as the second AI Safety Summit in Seoul (21–22 May) approaches, 25 of the world’s leading AI scientists say not enough is actually being done to protect us from the technology’s risks. In an expert consensus paper published in Science, they outline urgent policy priorities that global leaders
5-26-2024

MICROSOFT’S AI CHATBOT WILL ‘RECALL’ EVERYTHING YOU DO ON A PC

Microsoft wants laptop users to get so comfortable with its artificial intelligence chatbot that it will remember everything you’re doing on your computer and help figure out what you want to do next. The software giant on Monday revealed a new class of AI-imbued personal
5-26-2024

AI TRAINED TO DRAW INSPIRATION FROM IMAGES, NOT COPY THEM

Powerful new artificial intelligence models sometimes, quite famously, get things wrong—whether hallucinating false information or memorizing others’ work and offering it up as their own. To address the latter, researchers led by a team at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a framework to train AI models on images corrupted beyond recognition. DALL-E, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion are among the text-to-image diffusion generative AI models that can turn arbitrary user text into highly realistic images. All three are now facing lawsuits from artists who
5-26-2024

AI CHIPS COULD GET A SENSE OF TIME WITH MEMRISTOR THAT CAN BE TUNED

Tunable composition and structural disorder in single-crystalline ESO thin films on epitaxial YBCO electrodes. Credit: Nature Electronics (2024). Artificial neural networks may soon be able to process time-dependent information, such as audio and video data, more efficiently. The first memristor with a “relaxation time” that can be tuned is reported today in Nature Electronics, in a study led by the University of Michigan. Memristors, electrical components that store information in their electrical resistance, could reduce AI’s energy needs by about a factor of 90 compared to today’s graphical
5-26-2024

WHAT GOOGLE AI MEANS FOR YOU—AND YOUR SEARCH RESULTS

Google recently unveiled plans to integrate its search engine with artificial intelligence (AI). The company is debuting a new search engine feature called A.I. Overviews, which generates an overview of the topic a user searches and displays links to learn more. Traditional search results still appear underneath, but A.I. Overviews, Google says, will parse various pieces of information to give you a quicker answer. The new feature has raised concerns from some web publishers, who worry it will deal a heavy blow to their site traffic. Currently, A.I. Overviews don’t
5-26-2024

RESEARCHERS ANALYZE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AI-GENERATED DEEPFAKES

Credit: AI-generated image Most of the deepfakes (videos with fake hyper-realistic recreations) generated by artificial intelligence (AI) that spread through social media feature political representatives and artists and are often linked to current news cycles. This is one of the conclusions of research by the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) that analyzes the formal and content characteristics of viral misinformation in Spain arising from the use of AI tools for illicit purposes. This advance represents a step towards understanding and mitigating the threats generated by hoaxes in our society.
5-26-2024

INTERDISCIPLINARY GROUP SUGGESTS GUIDELINES FOR THE USE OF AI IN SCIENCE

(AI) generates texts, videos and images that can hardly be distinguished from those of humans—with the result that we often no longer know what is real. Researchers and scientists are increasingly being supported by AI. Therefore, an international task force has now developed principles for
5-26-2024

IMPERCEPTIBLE SENSORS MADE FROM ‘ELECTRONIC SPIDER SILK’ CAN BE PRINTED DIRECTLY ON HUMAN SKIN

Researchers have developed a method to make adaptive and eco-friendly sensors that can be directly and imperceptibly printed onto a wide range of biological surfaces, whether that’s a finger or a flower petal. Credit: University of Cambridge Researchers have developed a method to make adaptive and eco-friendly sensors that can be directly and imperceptibly printed onto a wide range of biological surfaces, whether that’s a finger or a flower petal. The method, developed by researchers from the University of Cambridge, takes its inspiration from spider silk, which can conform and
5-26-2024

BREAKTHROUGH OR BOAST? THE QUEST FOR COMPARABLE RESEARCH RESULTS

More international attention is being paid to the importance of common standards for performing scientific experiments and measuring their results—a field called metrology. In late 2019, physicist Dr. Lorenzo Pattelli was part of an Italian-Chinese scientific team working on a cooling technology that is fast gaining attention as the Earth gets hotter from climate change. Called passive daytime radiative cooling, or PDRC, the technology uses engineered materials to reflect away the sun’s radiation. The idea is that, amid heat waves, PDRC panels would cool buildings without the need for energy-intensive
5-26-2024

AI-ENHANCED COLLECTIVE BARGAINING TOOLS COULD HELP GIG WORKERS SOLVE PROBLEMS

Researchers at Northeastern University have created artificial intelligence tools to help gig workers organize, collect their own job-related data, analyze their work problems and come up with a strategy to implement solutions. “Building solid AI-enhanced solutions to enable gig workers’ collective action will pave the way for a fair and ethical gig economy—one with fair wages, humane working conditions and increased job security,” says Saiph Savage, assistant professor and director of the Civic A.I. Lab at Northeastern’s Khoury College of Computer Sciences. Gig work is typically performed by a freelancer
5-26-2024

AI-POWERED TRADING STRATEGIES TAME MARKET SWINGS

Average financial indicators feature importance. Credit: Quantitative Finance and Economics (2024). DOI: 10.3934/QFE.2024007 The dynamic landscape of cryptocurrencies, marked by rapid growth and high volatility since Bitcoin’s inception in 2009, has attracted significant attention from investors and traders. The emergence of new digital currencies challenges traditional financial models, necessitating advanced analytical tools to navigate the market’s unpredictability. The quest for effective trading strategies has led to the exploration of AI and machine learning techniques, which promise to enhance decision-making in this speculative yet lucrative field. Researchers from the University of
5-26-2024

NEW ROBOTIC PALM USES SOPHISTICATED TACTILE SENSORS TO MIMIC HUMAN TOUCH

“I’ll have you eating out of the palm of my hand” is an unlikely utterance you’ll hear from a robot. Why? Most of them don’t have palms. If you have kept up with the protean field, gripping and grasping more like humans has been an ongoing Herculean effort. Now, a new robotic hand design developed in MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) has rethought the oft-overlooked
5-26-2024

SCARLETT JOHANSSON SAYS A CHATGPT VOICE IS ‘EERILY SIMILAR’ TO HERS AND OPENAI IS HALTING ITS USE

Scarlett Johansson poses for photographers at the photo call for the film “Asteroid City” at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, May 24, 2023. OpenAI plans to halt the use of one of its ChatGPT voices after some drew similarities to Johansson, who famously portrayed a fictional AI assistant in the (perhaps no longer so futuristic) film “Her.” File OpenAI on Monday said it plans to halt the use of one of its ChatGPT voices that “Her” actor Scarlett Johansson says sounds
5-26-2024

AI HEADPHONES LET WEARER LISTEN TO A SINGLE PERSON IN A CROWD BY LOOKING AT THEM JUST ONCE

A University of Washington team has developed an artificial intelligence system that lets a user wearing headphones look at a person speaking for three to five seconds and then hear just the enrolled speaker’s voice in real time even as the listener moves around in noisy places and no longer faces the speaker. Pictured is a prototype of the headphone system: binaural microphones attached to off-the-shelf noise canceling headphones. Credit: Kiyomi Taguchi/University of Washington Noise-canceling headphones have gotten very good at creating an auditory blank slate. But allowing certain sounds
5-26-2024

NVIDIA’S PROFIT SOARS, UNDERSCORING ITS DOMINANCE IN CHIPS FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Nvidia reports earnings on Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Credit: AP Photo/Eric Risberg Nvidia on Wednesday overshot Wall Street estimates as its profit skyrocketed, bolstered by the chipmaking dominance that has made the company an icon of the artificial intelligence boom. Its net income rose more than sevenfold compared to a year earlier, jumping to $14.88 billion in its first quarter that ended April 28 from $2.04 billion a year earlier. Revenue
5-26-2024

EIT-BASED TACTILE SENSOR PROVIDES NEW APPROACH TO FINE MOTOR SKILLS ASSESSMENT

Researchers from SIT Japan showed a peg-shaped sensor for classifying adult pinching motions. Reconstructed images reach 79.4% accuracy, while voltage vectors achieve 91.4%, hinting at automated finger motion analysis potential. a) The microcontroller and sensing device are connected by a wire. (b) Hand model pinching the sensing device with two fingers from the horizontal direction and the reconstructed image. Credit: Hiroki Sato from SIT, Japan. Fine motor skills play a crucial role in human cognition, influencing everything from daily activities to the development of advanced tool-based civilizations. Yet, quantifying and
5-26-2024

EUROPE’S CLIMATE LAWS COULD SPELL THE END TO LOW-COST FLIGHTS—BUT WHAT ABOUT PRIVATE JETS?

The era of low-cost air travel in Europe may be over for good, thanks in part to recent EU environmental policies. All in all, this is good news for the climate. But many low- and middle-income people who used to travel around the EU will no longer be able to do so, or at least will be able to do so much less often. Yet the same policies will have little or no impact on the use of much more polluting private jets, which typically cover distances served by commercial
5-26-2024

ROBOT-PHOBIA COULD EXASPERATE HOTEL, RESTAURANT LABOR SHORTAGE

Using more robots to close labor gaps in the hospitality industry may backfire and cause more human workers to quit, according to a Washington State University study. The study, involving more than 620 lodging and food service employees, found that “robot-phobia”—specifically the fear that robots and technology will take human jobs—increased workers’ job insecurity and stress, leading to greater intentions to leave their jobs. The impact was more pronounced with employees who had real experience working with robotic technology. It also affected managers in addition to frontline workers. The findings
5-26-2024

TWO TYPES OF LLMS FOUND ABLE TO EQUAL OR OUTPERFORM HUMANS ON THEORY OF MIND TESTS

Performance of human (purple), GPT-4 (dark blue), GPT-3.5 (light blue) and LLaMA2-70B (green) on the battery of theory of mind tests. a, Original test items for each test showing the distribution of test scores for individual sessions and participants. b, Interquartile ranges of the average scores on the original published items (dark colors) and novel items (pale colors) across each test. An international team of psychologists and neurobiologists has found via experimentation that two types of LLMs are able to equal or outperform
5-26-2024

SANOFI ALLIES WITH OPENAI, FORMATION BIO FOR AI USE IN DRUG DEVELOPMENT

AI is playing an ever greater role in developing new medicines, as well as identifying new applications for existing drugs. French pharmaceutical company Sanofi announced Tuesday a partnership with ChatGPT-founder OpenAI and US biotech firm Formation Bio to accelerate the use of artificial intelligence in developing drugs. AI is playing an ever greater role in developing new medicines, as well as identifying new applications for existing drugs. It can be used for example to find new molecules more quickly and to improve clinical tests by vetting which patients would be
5-26-2024

USING AI, MASTERCARD EXPECTS TO FIND COMPROMISED CARDS QUICKER, BEFORE THEY GET USED BY CRIMINALS

A sign indicating MasterCard credit cards are accepted is posted at a New York business, Jan. 21, 2015. Mastercard said Wednesday, May 21, 2024, that it expects to be able to discover that your credit or debit card number has been compromised well before it ends up in the hands of a cybercriminal. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File Mastercard said Wednesday that it expects to be able to discover that your credit or debit card number has been compromised well before it ends up in the hands of a cybercriminal.
5-26-2024

NEW FLEXIBLE FILM DETECTS EYELASH PROXIMITY IN BLINK-TRACKING GLASSES

When attached to eyeglasses, a clear, flexible sensor can detect how close eyelashes are to the lens, enabling blink tracking. When another person’s finger hovers over your skin, you may get the sense that they’re touching you, feeling not necessarily contact, but their proximity. Similarly, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have designed a soft, flexible film that senses the presence of nearby objects without physically touching them. The study features the new sensor technology to detect
5-26-2024

GAMERS SAY THEY HATE ‘SMURFING,’ BUT ADMIT THEY DO IT

Online video game players believe the behavior known as “smurfing” is generally wrong and toxic to the gaming community—but most admit to doing it and say some reasons make the behavior less blameworthy, new research finds. The new study suggests that debates about toxicity in gaming may sometimes be more complex and nuanced than is often acknowledged, according to the researchers. Online video games use what are called “matchmaking systems” to pair players based on skill. “Smurfing” is when players cheat these systems by creating new accounts so that they
5-26-2024

HUMANS BARELY ABLE TO RECOGNIZE AI-GENERATED MEDIA

AI-generated images, texts and audio files are so convincing that people are no longer able to distinguish them from human-generated content. This is the result of an online survey of about 3,000 participants from Germany, China, and the U.S. This is the first time that a large transnational study has examined this particular form of media literacy.
5-26-2024

CAN AIRPLANE TURBULENCE REALLY KILL YOU? AIRCRAFT PROPULSION EXPERT WEIGHS IN ON SINGAPORE AIRLINES DEATH

One person was killed and several dozen more injured Tuesday when a flight from London to Singapore encountered “sudden extreme turbulence” and plummeted roughly 6,000 feet in a matter of minutes, according to The Washington Post. All told, there were 211 passengers and 18 crew on board, according to Singapore Airlines. The deceased passenger reportedly suffered a heart attack during the mid-air tumult. The Boeing 777-300ER operated by Singapore Airlines diverted to Bangkok, where it landed at 3:45 p.m. local time on Tuesday following the in-flight incident. The New York
5-26-2024

HOW INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES’ ARE CAUTIOUSLY EMBRACING GENERATIVE AI

U.S. intelligence agencies are scrambling to embrace the AI revolution, convinced they’ll otherwise be smothered in data as sensor-generated surveillance tech further blankets the planet. They also need to keep pace with competitors, who are already using AI to seed social media platforms with deepfakes. But the tech is young and brittle, and officials are acutely aware that generative AI is anything but tailor-made for a trade steeped in danger and deception. Years before OpenAI’s ChatGPT set off the current generative AI marketing frenzy, U.S. intelligence and defense officials were
5-26-2024

3D PRINTING ROBOT USES AI MACHINE LEARNING TO CREATE A SHOCK-ABSORBING SHAPE NO HUMAN EVER COULD

Inside a lab in Boston University’s College of Engineering, a robot arm drops small, plastic objects into a box placed perfectly on the floor to catch them as they fall. One by one, these tiny structures—feather-light, cylindrical pieces, no bigger than an inch tall—fill the box. Some are red, others blue, purple, green, or black. Each object is the result of an experiment in robot autonomy. On its own, learning as it goes, the robot is searching for, and trying to make, an object with the most

Hello, I am US citizen petitioning (I-130) for my mom. She has lived in Mexico for over 14 years now, so she’s not currently a visa holder of any kind.
After years of going through the process, we finally got documentarily approved. However I also got a message saying “This case does not meet the minimum income requirement to sponsor the intending immigrants. To avoid delays, an additional Affidavit of Support Form I-864 from a joint sponsor may be submitted. The consular officer will make a decision regarding this requirement at the time of the interview."
I am currently a stay at home mom, so I don’t have income, however I used my husbands income which is substantially over the 125% poverty guidelines. ( yes we did the household agreement I864a) However this job started this year and wasn’t reflected on previous taxes. Is this why? Will we need to find a joint sponsor? If so, do I just have all documents ready for the interview? (whenever that happens, I’ve heard it can take years) Or do I need to submit them on the website and wait to be DQed again?
Also, will I need to be present at the interview or can my mom go alone?

move to Schedule II

"Electric Shock Sensation and Recurrent Falls as a Side Effect of Clozapine Therapy: A Case Report." https://www.cureus.com/articles/208099-electric-shock-sensation-and-recurrent-falls-as-a-side-effect-of-clozapine-therapy-a-case-report#!/

involuntary assessment

hawaii, "Homeless people displaying mental health issues could be taken off the street against their will and brought in for assessment at a 3-month-old behavioral center in Iwilei if a new bill becomes law." https://www.aol.com/hawaii-homeless-mental-issues-could-160100636.html
"But I realize now that the evidence doesn’t back up institutionalization. Forced treatment for severe mental illness or substance use does not help people manage their conditions long-term, nor does it prevent homelessness. In fact, it can be ineffective and potentially traumatizing...alternatives to involuntary inpatient treatment like peer support networks." https://news.google.com/articles/CBMibmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndlc3RoYXdhaWl0b2RheS5jb20vMjAyNC8wNS8wMS9vcGluaW9uL2ZvcmNlZC10cmVhdG1lbnQtYW5kLWNyaW1pbmFsaXphdGlvbi13b250LWVuZC1ob21lbGVzc25lc3Mv0gFyaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud2VzdGhhd2FpaXRvZGF5LmNvbS8yMDI0LzA1LzAxL29waW5pb24vZm9yY2VkLXRyZWF0bWVudC1hbmQtY3JpbWluYWxpemF0aW9uLXdvbnQtZW5kLWhvbWVsZXNzbmVzcy9hbXAv?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

guardianship

"Proposed legislative changes aim to align USVI's (Virgin Islands) guardianship laws with federal guidelines, ensuring safer and less restrictive care options." “when guardians commit acts of abuse and exploitation, the impact can be tragic and unimaginable and often leads to criminal charges,” https://viconsortium.com/vi-community_centevirgin-islands-major-bill-targeting-enhanced-protection-for-minors-and-adults-in-usvi-moves-forward

TV

"Hack" (2002) season 1 episode 18 malpractice and records coverup "I'm a psychiatrist. We're always sure. We're not always right." "You know who doctors care about? Other doctors." https://youtu.be/LPi-FnHipDo
Even pro-psychiatry john oliver blames shootings on gun laws, rather than mental health. asylums are "snake pits." https://youtu.be/JiZp1EyoEYM

metabolism

"High circulating MIF (migration inhibitory factor) levels indicate the association with atypical antipsychotic-induced adverse metabolic effects...identified MIF as a potential clinical marker for recognizing patients at risk of developing metabolic dysfunction induced by AAPs." https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-024-02934-8

only for epilepsy

"A single dose of lamotrigine significantly reduced activation in a range of brain areas important for emotional processing, including bilateral amygdala and ACC, in response to both positive and negative emotions." https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-024-02944-6

joke

"How many psychiatrists does it take to change a lightbulb? It has to change itself."

psychological torture

"Fontana pays nearly $900,000 for ‘psychological torture’ inflicted by police to get false confession...the investigators even threatened to have his pet Labrador Retriever, Margosha, euthanized as a stray...and confining him in the psych ward because they made him suicidal...medical distress." psych wards for me, such as June 2021, were physical and mental torture led by mother. to force me to do illegal things I'm completely against like sign a discriminatory apartment lease. https://www.sbsun.com/2024/05/23/fontana-pays-nearly-900000-for-psychological-torture-inflicted-by-police-to-get-false-confession/

personal experiences

May 27 12:22 PM mother violated my religious family and financial values. 2:13 PM cried.
Happy Memorial Day to the soldiers like my grandpa whose job I'd rather be doing, but can't because of mandatory poisons and off duty/medical pot prohibition.

move to Schedule II

"Electric Shock Sensation and Recurrent Falls as a Side Effect of Clozapine Therapy: A Case Report." https://www.cureus.com/articles/208099-electric-shock-sensation-and-recurrent-falls-as-a-side-effect-of-clozapine-therapy-a-case-report#!/

involuntary assessment

hawaii, "Homeless people displaying mental health issues could be taken off the street against their will and brought in for assessment at a 3-month-old behavioral center in Iwilei if a new bill becomes law." https://www.aol.com/hawaii-homeless-mental-issues-could-160100636.html
"But I realize now that the evidence doesn’t back up institutionalization. Forced treatment for severe mental illness or substance use does not help people manage their conditions long-term, nor does it prevent homelessness. In fact, it can be ineffective and potentially traumatizing...alternatives to involuntary inpatient treatment like peer support networks." https://news.google.com/articles/CBMibmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndlc3RoYXdhaWl0b2RheS5jb20vMjAyNC8wNS8wMS9vcGluaW9uL2ZvcmNlZC10cmVhdG1lbnQtYW5kLWNyaW1pbmFsaXphdGlvbi13b250LWVuZC1ob21lbGVzc25lc3Mv0gFyaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud2VzdGhhd2FpaXRvZGF5LmNvbS8yMDI0LzA1LzAxL29waW5pb24vZm9yY2VkLXRyZWF0bWVudC1hbmQtY3JpbWluYWxpemF0aW9uLXdvbnQtZW5kLWhvbWVsZXNzbmVzcy9hbXAv?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

guardianship

"Proposed legislative changes aim to align USVI's (Virgin Islands) guardianship laws with federal guidelines, ensuring safer and less restrictive care options." “when guardians commit acts of abuse and exploitation, the impact can be tragic and unimaginable and often leads to criminal charges,” https://viconsortium.com/vi-community_centevirgin-islands-major-bill-targeting-enhanced-protection-for-minors-and-adults-in-usvi-moves-forward

TV

"Hack" (2002) season 1 episode 18 malpractice and records coverup "I'm a psychiatrist. We're always sure. We're not always right." "You know who doctors care about? Other doctors." https://youtu.be/LPi-FnHipDo
Even pro-psychiatry john oliver blames shootings on gun laws, rather than mental health. asylums are "snake pits." https://youtu.be/JiZp1EyoEYM

metabolism

"High circulating MIF (migration inhibitory factor) levels indicate the association with atypical antipsychotic-induced adverse metabolic effects...identified MIF as a potential clinical marker for recognizing patients at risk of developing metabolic dysfunction induced by AAPs." https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-024-02934-8

only for epilepsy

"A single dose of lamotrigine significantly reduced activation in a range of brain areas important for emotional processing, including bilateral amygdala and ACC, in response to both positive and negative emotions." https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-024-02944-6

joke

"How many psychiatrists does it take to change a lightbulb? It has to change itself."

psychological torture

"Fontana pays nearly $900,000 for ‘psychological torture’ inflicted by police to get false confession...the investigators even threatened to have his pet Labrador Retriever, Margosha, euthanized as a stray...and confining him in the psych ward because they made him suicidal...medical distress." psych wards for me, such as June 2021, were physical and mental torture led by mother. to force me to do illegal things I'm completely against like sign a discriminatory apartment lease. https://www.sbsun.com/2024/05/23/fontana-pays-nearly-900000-for-psychological-torture-inflicted-by-police-to-get-false-confession/

personal experiences

May 27 12:22 PM mother violated my religious family and financial values. 2:13 PM cried.
Happy Memorial Day to the soldiers like my grandpa whose job I'd rather be doing, but can't because of mandatory poisons and off duty/medical pot prohibition.

Although Washington has a charity care law that I qualify based on my income, I don’t think chiropractic is considered one of the covered treatments.
I saw a chiropractor for a year, I did not know what else at the time helped ease the discomfort in my neck as I tried many other forms. While they did not need me to pay until at the end of the treatment, I didnt know they had billed me for physical therapy codes they claimed they performed for all their patients. I appealed the physical therapy to Aetna but lost, and my final over $500 in physical therapy on top of the chiropractor adjustments. I did qualify for charity care since my income was below 150% of federal poverty, I did not know chiropractor would charge extra as they were not physical therapists, but Aetna claim they have no access to the records
What can I do?

I just sent in my Victim Impact Statement, and I thought I'd post the text of it here (with some info redacted) in the hopes it might help others with drafting theirs. Your story, of course will vary, but perhaps this will help others get the ball rolling (and remind folks to send one in.)
My suggestions for drafting your statement (FWIW) are make it impactful, but keep it professional, honest, and factual. That's the route I tried to take anyway.
Note that victim impact statements should be sent to:
wendy.olsen@usdoj.gov tanya.trakht@ag.ny.gov
Subject: Victim Impact Statement: People v. Mashinsky, 2023 N.Y. Slip Op. 50826 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2023)
Dear Wendy & Tanya:
I am one of the many creditors in the Celsius Network bankruptcy who was defrauded by Alex Mashinsky. I would like to provide a victim impact statement in the case of People v. Mashinsky, 2023 N.Y. Slip Op. 50826 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2023). I held funds on the Celsius Networks platform ("Celsius") from [redacted] until June 12, 2022, when distributions from the platform were halted.
I am a 55-year-old woman. I spent most of my career in a corporate managerial position, during which time I diligently accumulated savings, a significant portion of which I invested in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
In 2021, due to health issues after multiple bouts of COVID-19, I left the workforce, and have been unemployed since then. I have applied for SSI disability twice, and have been denied. At the time I left the workforce, I knew that qualifying for SSI disability might be difficult (given that COVID-related impairments can be nebulous and difficult to prove). The repeated assurances of the safety and security of funds held on the Celsius platform, communicated directly by Alex Mashinsky on official Celsius outlets, were instrumental in my decision to rely upon the funds I had on Celsius being available to support me after I left my job.
On June 12, 2022, when Celsius paused distributions, I had multiple cryptocurrency assets on the platform, the bulk of which were in BTC and ETH. My BTC and ETH holdings as of June 12, 2022 were:
[Redacted]
At the time of this statement, these assets, had they been returned to me, would have a current value of over $166,000.*
The impact on my current condition as the result of Mr. Mashinsky's criminal actions and fraudulent misrepresentations is damaging to the extreme. Currently, I have no stable source of income. I take random "gig work" as my health allows. My current income averages less than $1,000 a month, well below the Federal poverty level, and barely covers basic necessities such as fuel, automobile insurance, and servicing old credit card debt. My elderly mother allows me to live in her basement rent-free, as I cannot afford to rent a separate home. I receive less than $300 a month in food stamps and am enrolled in my state's Medicare program. I am also currently being sued by two credit card companies after I became unable to pay when my financial circumstances collapsed. If the assets I trusted to Celsius had not been stolen from me by Alex Mashinsky, I would have easily been able to repay those balances. Instead, I now face a downward spiral of poverty and a destroyed credit score for what, realistically, is the rest of my life.
My investments in Bitcoin and Ethereum were based on careful research, and I believe the subsequent rise in the value of these cryptocurrencies (and their increasingly widespread institutional adoption) speaks to my due diligence in choosing to invest in them. I used similar due diligence when choosing to use Celsius as a platform on which to hold my assets. No amount of due diligence, however, would have been sufficient to protect me from Mr. Mashinsky's overtly fraudulent representations of the safety of assets on the platform.
I hope the court will take my statement, and those of others similarly affected, under serious consideration when weighing punishment for Mr. Mashinsky and restitution for the victims of his crimes. My story is not unique, and is by no means the worst of many I have heard reported. Mr. Mashinsky's fraudulent actions have destroyed many lives, and have resulted in severe financial distress which may, ultimately, be impossible for many investors to recover from.
Thank you for your attention.
[Signature]
*Note: As a creditor in Celsius Network's Chapter 11 bankruptcy, I was granted a recovery in the amount of [redacted] which is little more than 1/4 of the amount I had on the platform on June 12, 2022. As of the date of this impact statement, those settlement funds have not yet been disbursed to me, owing to incompetence on the part of Stretto, Celsius' distribution agent.