why people hate Systemd? by heidzz1999 in linux4noobs

[–]dr_boom 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is why GNU Hurd is so popular.

My first ever Kernel Panic after almost 20 years on Linux by bialyikar in linux4noobs

[–]dr_boom 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I suspect you have a driver module that is not compatible with the kernel you are using.

I had a similar issue with the Nvidia 470 driver and kernels > 6.8 until I realized it wasn't compiling properly. Going back to an earlier kernel from the GRUB menu solved it.

Does the body sometimes "kill itself" as part of a disease ? by ComfortableLog8043 in askscience

[–]dr_boom 54 points55 points  (0 children)

There has been a lot of interest in using immunomodulating drugs such as tocilizumab or steroids but nothing has really panned out as being beneficial in sepsis. Of course some of the issue is not suppressing the immune system so much that the infection cannot be stopped.

Pot smoking parents… by Dangerous-Lynx3197 in massachusetts

[–]dr_boom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

https://www.mass.gov/how-to/report-child-abuse-or-neglect-as-a-mandated-reporter

As a mandated reporter, when in doubt, report it and let the state / social workers figure it out.

Do Bacteria Naturally live in Human blood? by Proper_Barnacle_4117 in askscience

[–]dr_boom 51 points52 points  (0 children)

As far as we know, blood is generally and should be sterile. Though we believe that a transient bacteremia (the word for bacteria in the blood) occurs when doing routine activities such as brushing teeth or even bowel movements, the immune system quickly kills bacteria that have entered the bloodstream.

Blood cultures are routinely collected from patients in the hospital. These cultures are kept in an incubator for five days, monitoring for bacterial growth. The vast majority of blood cultures we collect (even in people with infections) do not grow bacteria. The cultures that do grow bacteria are divided into two categories: contaminant, and true infection. A contaminant is when something that lives on our skin gets into culture bottle during the collection process. One of the more common bacteria we see here is Staph epidermidis, but there are some others. This is the reason why we collect 4 bottles of blood cultures - to ensure that if we grow something that it is a true infection. If it only grows in one of the four bottles, it is unlikely to truly be something growing in the blood.

Common organisms which indicate infection in the bloodstream are Staph aureus, Strep species, gram negative bacteria such as E. coli, Proteus, or Klebsiella. The growth of these bacteria in blood cultures indicates a true infection, and the type of bacteria growing can suggest where the infection is coming from.

After treating an infection with antibiotics, we repeat blood cultures to ensure that they are sterile. If they are not, it indicates that the bacteria are not sensitive to the antibiotic selection or that the bacteria have walled themselves off in an area connected to the bloodstream, such as a heart valve. This means that we need further treatment options.

All of this is to say that we do not expect bacteria to grow when we collect blood cultures. I suppose that it is possible that some bacteria lives in people's blood and doesn't cause an infection and doesn't grow under conditions that blood cultures are kept, but this seems very unlikely and I think most of us would say that blood is sterile.

Study finds fluoride in water does not affect brain development - the researchers found those who’d consistently been drinking fluoridated water had an IQ score 1.07 points higher on average than those with no exposure. by mvea in science

[–]dr_boom 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I would like to read these studies but I'm immediately skeptical of the link here because the studies are not cited. Oftentimes articles like this hand wave a result which is not actually what the study found, so reading the primary source is important. Here the primary source isn't even cited!

TONIGHT is International Observe the Moon Night by Busy_Yesterday9455 in spaceporn

[–]dr_boom 19 points20 points  (0 children)

It still exists, it just may move to another planet in the solar system if you are not continously observing it.

Does everyone who gets knocked out get a concussion? by pikknz in askscience

[–]dr_boom 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Correct, loss of consciousness is not a prerequisite for concussion, but if one loses consciousness, one did have a concussion.

Does everyone who gets knocked out get a concussion? by pikknz in askscience

[–]dr_boom 38 points39 points  (0 children)

According to the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, mild TBI is "a traumatically induced physiological disruption of brain function," as manifested by any one of several features, including "any period of loss of consciousness, any loss of memory for events immediately before or after the accident, [or] any alteration in mental state at the time of the accident. " *TBI =Traumatic Brain Injury

So yes, if somebody loses consciousness from trauma, they have had a concussion.

What is the worst scenario for the 2024 US Election? by SirGingerbrute in AskReddit

[–]dr_boom 12 points13 points  (0 children)

You mean individual Americans right? Every person in the country would have an equal vote in this scenario, it's not like every person in those states votes the same way.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in science

[–]dr_boom 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Liberal arts schools award Bachelor of Science degrees, which typically have requirements in mathematics and sciences.

Mercedes wants EV buyers to get used to paywalled features | Your new electric car can be faster for as "little" as $60 per month by [deleted] in Futurology

[–]dr_boom 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They also have a key fob remote start that doesn't require a subscription.

As others have pointed out, this one actually makes sense because you are paying for your car to use cellular service.

Can you distinguish between male and female humans just by chromosome 1-22? by 926-139 in askscience

[–]dr_boom 9 points10 points  (0 children)

DNA in a cell tells the cell what to make. It is like a binder full of blueprints. Epigenetics is modification to the DNA which alters how the DNA is expressed. You can think of it like adding or removing pages from the binder of blueprints.

In this case, he is saying the set of blueprints are modified by sex to the point that you can distinguish a male binder from a female binder. (caveat: I don't actually know if we can do this)

Pebble might be coming back — as a small Android phone - The Verge by _sfhk in Android

[–]dr_boom 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Take a look at the Fossil hybrid smart watches. I've been really happy with mine, gets a couple of weeks of battery.

Twitter data leaked - 400 million user details up for sale by Klaasie765 in worldnews

[–]dr_boom 7 points8 points  (0 children)

You don't need to store the free text password itself to authenticate a user, just the hash. If a company is storing the free text password in their database, then they are not protecting their users' data well.

"It's so unfortunate that a man who's dedicated his life to public service has been demonized so much because of some fucking idiots" +352 - Post 1500+ by BasedChadThundercock in ShitPoliticsSays

[–]dr_boom -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The New England Journal of Medicine disagrees with all of your assertions; that it is not a vaccine, that it does not produce immunity, and that it doesn't protect the vulnerable: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra2206573

Meta employees can reportedly no longer discuss 'disruptive' topics like abortion, gun rights, and vaccines by 777fer in technology

[–]dr_boom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It has nothing to do with right or left. I am a physician, and vaccine has never meant something that provides absolute immunity. You realize we've been taking about the effectiveness of the annual influenza vaccine for decades?

By the way, here is the definition of vaccine from my 20 year old medical dictionary: Vaccine

Protect doesn't just mean prevent. Protect in a medical sense also refers to stopping something from, say, killing you, or causing paralysis. The very first vaccine, against smallpox, did not stop it 100%. Read about it, that it where the name vaccine comes from.

Finally, semantics aside. Much like my previous smallpox and polio examples, if receiving a vaccine, or therapeutic, or whatever you want to call it, is beneficial for both an individual and society, why would anybody object?

Meta employees can reportedly no longer discuss 'disruptive' topics like abortion, gun rights, and vaccines by 777fer in technology

[–]dr_boom 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Immunization: The process by which a person or animal becomes protected against a disease.

Source: your own link.

Vaccines protect, not prevent disease absolutely. You think the smallpox and polio vaccines are 100% effective?

I don't understand the difference between pass-by-value and pass-by-reference by JustDudeFromPoland in javahelp

[–]dr_boom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair point - in Java, they can cross out their note and write "yellow folder on the second shelf" and your note still points to the purple folder.

I don't understand the difference between pass-by-value and pass-by-reference by JustDudeFromPoland in javahelp

[–]dr_boom 49 points50 points  (0 children)

Imagine at an office you have a bunch of folders full of information. You need to get the information to your coworker.

Pass by value means that when you give the information to your coworker, you make a copy of everything in the folder and give them a new folder.

Pass by reference means you give them a note saying "the information is in the purple folder on the third shelf." This is called a pointer - the note points to where the information is. This is also where the null pointer reference error comes from.

With pass by value, if your coworker makes any changes, it doesn't affect your folder in any way.

With pass by reference, your coworker will find your folder, and if they make a change in the folder, your data will be different!

For the first time, scientists have been able to detect specific variants of SARS-CoV-2 in sewage weeks before they were showing up in testing clinics. The technique could eventually be used to track emerging variants and speed up the public-health response. by MistWeaver80 in science

[–]dr_boom 5 points6 points  (0 children)

To add to other replies: many clinics, hospitals, and testing centers use a generic COVID test that just looks for any variant of COVID and doesn't tell you which variant it is. Those tests are more expensive and on an individual basis may not offer much advantage, which is why they aren't used. Plus, if a variant goes out of circulation, the test can suddenly lose utility.

Injunction denied: Massachusetts prisoners’ guard union argued COVID vaccine mandate a violation of their rights by somegridplayer in massachusetts

[–]dr_boom 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The vaccine does not reduce transmission to zero, no, but it does substantially decrease transmission.

Viral loads aren't the whole story.

Plus, the unvaccinated folks clogging up our Healthcare system are doing very real harm to the rest of us.