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Study shows prevalence of e-cigarette cannabis use among US youth

Dr. Denise A. Valenti Medical & Allied Healthcare

The results of a study that estimated the prevalence nationally of marijuana use with electronic cigarettes among middle and high school students in the United States were recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics. Close to 9 percent of the more than 20,000 youths between the ages of 9 and 19 in the study reported having used marijuana in vaped form in 2016. This is approximately 1 in every 11 youths.

How to improve your organization’s telecommuting policies

Lisa Mulcahy Business Management, Services & Risk Management

For many employees, there's no greater perk than working from home. Workers appreciate the opportunity as well: a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign study found that remote workers often go above and beyond what's expected of them, and are "good citizens" in an organization — positive, cooperative and friendly to their peers. As a manager, it's helpful to re-examine your telecommuting philosophy from time to time for a few important reasons. You want to make sure your remote workers can always receive the info they need, feel fully engaged as part of your organization, and stay as productive as possible.

Designing human-machine interfaces for mobile devices

Joseph Zulick Science & Technology

Well-designed human-machine interfaces (HMI) reduce operator error, saving companies millions of dollars by reducing down-time and increasing worker safety. HTML5 programming enables the transfer of HMI designs to mobile devices, but programming is just the enabler. Let's learn some best practices for HMI design elements that are specific to mobile devices due to size and interface considerations.

Dutch nonprofit installs potential solution to Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Michelle R. Matisons Waste Management & Environmental

Are you growing tired from all the debates going on about increased air pollution due to relaxed environmental regulations? If so, you can always turn your attention to ocean pollution for a change of pace. One notorious accumulation of floating trash can be found in the Pacific Ocean; The Great Pacific Patch is twice the size of the entire state of Texas, and it remains a great concern for many searching for solutions to the ocean plastics problem. Plenty of people have proposed solutions, and now a Dutch nonprofit has stepped forward to offer the most comprehensive cleanup yet.

Company’s new tech brings AI to overlooked aspect of healthcare

Shawn Smajstrla Medical & Allied Healthcare

Weekly, if not daily, articles are published and posted across the internet hailing the potential of artificial intelligence in healthcare. Much of this content focuses on two primary aspects of the overall healthcare ecosystem: clinical and administrative. But Change Healthcare, a tech company that works with providers and payers to build a more collaborative and efficient healthcare system, has identified a different kind of use case.

The benefits of VR are so broad, they’re beyond tangible

Joseph Zulick Science & Technology

Amidst all the hype and wide-eyed growth predicted for virtual reality, it's often difficult for stakeholders to decide which of its two words to focus on. Will VR deliver only indirect, "virtual" benefits to businesses or direct, tangible benefits that become bottom-line reality? On this topic, today's hype will definitely become tomorrow's given. Even in these earliest days, VR is already a game-changer, and the future holds immense promise for almost every business vertical.

Study shows promising new therapy for humans, dogs with Type 1 diabetes

Dorothy L. Tengler Medical & Allied Healthcare

In the U.S. alone, more than 1 million people are living with Type 1 diabetes, and approximately 80 people per day, or 30,000 per year, are newly diagnosed. Despite continual improvements in insulin, insulin delivery methods, and home glucose monitoring methods, most people with Type 1 diabetes do not achieve recommended levels of glycemic control. A new therapy for diabetes might mean that instead of injecting insulin once a day or wearing pumps, those with Type 1 diabetes would just need an injection of collagen mixed with pancreatic cells every few months.

Law enforcement agencies look to invest in pursuit management technology

Bambi Majumdar Law Enforcement, Defense & Security

Recent headlines related to police chases gone awry or near-misses are disturbing. But they also explain why law enforcement officials are looking at advanced police pursuit technologies. They want to do their jobs better and without any tragic consequences or risking officer safety. Police departments, such as ones in Massachusetts, have announced that they are looking for new methods of pursuit, ones that can help forgo such high-speed chases. Unfortunately, most of these new tech tools are too expensive for cash-strapped local departments.

What to know about teaching to Generation Z

Brian Stack Education

In any profession, you have to know the audience of the people you work with or serve. As educators, what do we really know about our current students, who are members of Generation Z? How can we use that as school leaders to promote effective instructional strategies to meet their learning needs? To know how to educate them, we have to understand how a Gen Zer is different from a millennial. They are a group that was born in the era of smartphones, and those devices have become more robust with the passage of each year.

The long-term effects of Facebook’s scandals

Emma Fitzpatrick Marketing

Facebook lost its cool factor a while ago. Back in 2016, Snapchat became teens’ favorite social network, and it’s remained there ever since, according to 2018 eMarketer data. For all other generations, including millennials, Facebook remains the most used social network. That’s not to say all is well. Facebook only grew its daily users by 1.44 percent in Q2 of 2018, compared to 3.42 percent growth in Q1. That’s the company’s slowest quarter-over-quarter growth ever. Other research corroborated that people may be pulling back from Facebook a bit.

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