If you see LLMs like Claude and ChatGPT as "easy wins", try spending an entire work day listening to data center noise. Then ask yourself if it's really worth having that environmental hazard tell you the easiest 100 words to remove from your manuscript. www.youtube.com/shorts/AAQsn...

Data Center noise: How would you like to live next to this sound all day, all night?

YouTube video by WSBT-TV

youtube.com

We found that #TB epidemics are becoming increasingly urbanised. Important implications for supporting effective public health interventions to end tuberculosis epidemics. 🧪 #MedSky @uofgshw.bsky.social @kchorton.bsky.social @nswartwood.bsky.social journals.plos.org/plosmedicine...

PLOS Medicine@plosmedicine.org · 6mo ago

In this systematic review & meta-analysis, Mortazavi & colleagues (@petermacp.bsky.social) investigate urban vs rural differences in #TB prevalence between 2000 and 2024 in 26 low- and middle-income countries, finding that TB epidemics have become increasingly urbanized 🧪 #MedSky plos.io/3O79BqY

Ever had a day where you question your fundamental understanding of a basic concept you use near daily. I'm down a rabbit hole with different log/exp transformation in models. Throw your best articles/book chapters/anything else at me. 🛟

I am particularly curious what phrases academics across disciplines and career stages use to describe an individual with their HIV status attached (both + and -). 🛟 Do you use PLWH and PLWoH? PLWH and person living without HIV? HIV+/- population? Something else entirely? #AcademicSky

TIL you are supposed to write a new cover letter when submitting manuscript revisions. I've been a professional in academia for 8.5 years. Apologies to every editor who has received my submission cover letter and thank you for still accepting my manuscripts. 🫠 #AcademicSky

Thank you to @troytassier.bsky.social for highlighting our work on COVID-19 waves (esp wrt the Strugis rally). Fun fact: I accidentally ended up at Sturgis once (pre-COVID) and I have the tattoo to prove it. It was so cramped and chaotic; I will never understand how 2020 attendees justified it.

Troy Tassier@troytassier.bsky.social · 8mo ago

"Screw Covid, I'm going to Sturgis!" The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, held in August 2020, was the epitome of the individual choice mindset. Of course it spread cases outward and caused infections, illness, and death. A new research paper allows us to watch the Sturgis Covid wave spread across the US.

Alt title: A love letter to anyone who tried to minimize concerns regarding Trump's reelection by claiming, "It's only four years." www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Three years ago we set out to visualize and quantitatively examine the movement of SARS-CoV-2 leading up to the first two major COVID-19 waves in the US. Today all that hard work "hit the shelves" at PLOSCompBio. 🛟 Watch the spread (we have movies) and read more here: dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

Quantifying the spatiotemporal dynamics of the first two epidemic waves of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the United States

Author summary In this work, we developed a set of tools and methods designed to produce high-resolution visualizations, as well as to quantify the complex and intricate patterns associated with the s...

dx.plos.org

Anyone know why the GBD 2023 covariate files end at the letter "R"? Having trouble tracking down updated smoking and underweight prevalence data for a revision due too soon. 🛟 ghdx.healthdata.org/record/ihme-...

#ELI5 PhD applications in the US for applied math, biostatistics, and/or epidemiology. I'm in my 3rd application cycle with only a single interview over all years. I feel either I am fundamentally misunderstanding something or there's something about my profile that torpedos my chances. 🛟

every time I receive an email addressed to Dr. Swartwood another tiny piece of my soul dies.

how many years in a row does one need to be rejected from all PhD programs before they can completely spiral out? Asking for a frenemy. (it’s me, I’m my own best advocate and enemy).

I'm author on some upcoming systematic review manuscripts. Systematic reviews are often limited by language of the reviewers, but is AI the answer? Is its use going to improve public health? Below, I describe my experience and why I don't think it's the answer. 🛟🧪

AI’s growing thirst for water is becoming a public health risk

AI’s rapid expansion is placing growing pressure on water supplies and public health.

aljazeera.com

Any BRMS gurus out there that can help me with my covariate analysis using a multivariate model? #stats #stan discourse.mc-stan.org/t/covariate-...

Covariate impact on the ratio of dependent variables in BRMS multivariate model

I am using a multivariate specification in brms to model two correlated outcomes, (y_1, y_2) jointly. However, the outcome of interest is actually y_1/y_2, which is calculated after model run. I am in...

discourse.mc-stan.org

In case anyone needs last minute gift ideas for the public health academic in their life: cognitive-surplus.com/collections/...

A Prayer for Grant Funding Cocktail Candle

You’ve filled out stacks and stacks of paperwork, you’ve submitted more proposals than you can count. You’ve stayed up into the wee hours of the morning to just revise your submission one last time be...

cognitive-surplus.com

Does anyone in US public health🛟 or @iddjobs.org world have any part time work? I'm looking for at least 9 hours of work at a non-profit or university so I don't lose my progress toward Public Student Loan Forgiveness.

we have to bring TB into the discussion of climate change and climate change into TB programs. The vulnerabilities are shared. We should be designing interventions that improve resilience to both. A huge thank you to Matthew Saunders for his fantastic presentation at #UnionConf2025

Heepity jeepity Curated poetry Makes LLMs do what- Ever you want Single-turn jailbreaking Vulnerability Bypass your guardrails and Serve us some cunt

Charlie Stross@cstross.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Looks like LLMs are *very* vulnerable to attack via poetic allusion: "curated poetic prompts yielded high attack-success rates (ASR), with some providers exceeding 90% ..." https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1

come learn how TB varies across urban and rural areas via estimates based on data across the last three decades! #UnionConf2025

The LIGHT Consortium @lightontb.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Is TB more common in cities or rural areas? New analysis presented by Seyed Alireza Mortazavi at #WCLH2025 today! • Urban > Rural in Africa • Rural > Urban in Western Pacific • Similar elsewhere 2.3 million participants 26 countries using a Bayesian model fitted to WHO data. 🤝 by @LIGHTonTB

“Tuberculosis has become a metaphor for everything wrong with…and everything right about Public Health today.” - @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social #UnionConf2025

come stop by my ePoster today at the #UnionConf2025 to find out if men or women experience TB at a higher rate in LMICs. The answer may just surprise you… 🛟

The LIGHT Consortium @lightontb.bsky.social · 11mo ago

🗓️ Happening today at #UnionConf2025! Are men really more affected by TB? @nswartwood.bsky.social (Harvard), with support from the LIGHT Consortium, presents new Bayesian insights into TB prevalence by sex across LMICs. #TB #Epidemiology #GlobalHealth

Only I could go chasing hygge in Copenhagen, going so far as picking a cafe that bans laptops, and end up wedged between two groups discussing graduate school aspiration and professional resume building. I hear you universe, I’ll get my act together.

Impacts to food access can have severe effects on public health. Find the latest #SNAP updates from DSHS. www.dshs.wa.gov/sites/defaul...

NEW: Vaccine Preventable Disease Outbreaks, Global Tracker Shanghai: RSV Moscow: Chicken pox & Measles Prague: Hep A Mexico City: Measles (>5,000 cases) Southern US: Measles, Pertussis Alaska: Pertussis Peru: Pertussis h/t @angierasmussen.bsky.social @monscience.bsky.social #medsky #pedsky 🛟😷🧪

“Wow, I saw in the last GTB report undernutrition is much less important for TB than we previously thought” I hear you say… Well, no. We think this is an underestimate, & as much as 28% of TB could be attributable to undernutrition – see our latest comment here: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Tuberculosis and undernutrition: improving estimates to reinforce the policy imperative

Undernutrition is a key driver of the global tuberculosis epidemic, increasing the risk of people developing tuberculosis disease and of poor outcomes in those who do.1 Each year, WHO publishes estima...

thelancet.com

I wonder if this push will expand to three vaccines over three visits, resulting in two additional revenue generating visits for the same protection…

T. Neil Ku, MD, FSHEA, FIDSA@kutneil.bsky.social · last yr.

If it ain't broke, why try to break it? #vaccination #MMR #publichealth #IDSky www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

Public health and science professionals in the US - what are some small actions you've taken to feel less hopeless in the current political climate? I've started a few small reoccurring donations, but looking to move beyond monetary contributions. 🛟🧪

Hello #IDsky - as PhD application season (in the US) rolls around, I'm asking for any leads for mathematical modeling labs that may be looking for students. I've got 8 years professional experience in transmission modeling and strong Bayesian background. Please let me know if you know of anything! 🛟

A terrorist targeted federal workers last week. There wasn’t much reporting on it. But I’m not finished thinking about it! 🧵 An anti-vaxxer fired more than 500 gunshots into CDC Atlanta, shattering 150 “blast-proof” windows on 6 buildings. Employees were pinned down in terror.