Category: Stuff

  • What Is An Honorary Consultant

    In a hospital in the UK, an honorary consultant is a clinical academic who is employed by a higher education institution or other organisation in a research and/or teaching capacity, and who also provides services for NHS patients at a consultant level in NHS facilities.

    Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge is officially within Cambridge University Hospitals, so that would qualify as a higher education institution and an NHS hospital.

  • Surgery and pholcodine

    From The Week, 25 March 2023

    Several cold and cough remedies have been withdrawn from the shelves owing to the risk they pose to people who are having major surgery. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said that it was acting in the light of evidence that taking pholcodine – an opioid cough suppressant – in the year before an operation, slightly increases the risk of anaphylaxis while under general anesthetic. Pharmacists were told to stop supplying drugs that contain pholcodine, which include some Day Nurse and Night Nurse capsules, and Boots’ own-brand cough syrup, immediately. However, officials stressed that the risk of anaphylaxis (also known as anaphylactic shock) during surgery remained very small Anyone who is scheduled to have surgery, and who has taken cough medicines in the past 12 months, is advised to inform their anaesthetist.

    Comment

    A year before surgery? Who would have thought an after effect could last that long.

  • Milk Cattle in India

    Because of Lumpy skin disease, about 155,000 milk cattle have been slaughtered in India. This is one factor lowering milk production in the country. Other factors are poor crop yields for cattle feed, and farmers who exited cattle trading during Covid.

    There are approximately 59.5 million head of cattle in India, so the number slaughtered because of the disease is only a quarter of one percent of the head of milk cattle.

    Lumpy skin disease is a viral disease that affects cattle. It is transmitted by certain species of blood-feeding insects – flies, mosquitoes, and ticks. It causes fever, nodules on the skin and can lead to death, especially in animals that that have not previously been exposed to the virus.

  • Huarache

    A huarache is a Mexican sandal having the upper woven of interlaced leather strips.

    The style has spread all over the world, but many shoes called huaraches have no interlaced strips at all, just the name.

    Huarache is pronouced wuh·ra·chuh in British English and wuh·raa·chee in American English.

  • Asking AI How It Composes Replies

    Preamble: domain authority is an indication of a website’s reliability popularity, and trustworthiness. It is not authorised, in the sense that it was dreamed up by a MOZ, a company that offers insights to help companies and individuals craft articles that will help them rank higher according to Google’s algorithm,

    So I asked AI what it was and how it uses Domain Authority – if at all

    What is domain authority?

    Domain Authority (DA) is a metric developed by Moz that predicts the likelihood of a website ranking well in search engine results pages (SERPs). DA is based on a scale from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating a greater likelihood of ranking higher in search results.

    Domain Authority is determined by evaluating multiple factors, including the quality and quantity of the website’s backlinks, the age and popularity of the domain, and other factors related to the website’s content and structure.

    A website with a high DA score is considered to be more authoritative and trustworthy than a website with a low DA score. However, it is important to note that DA is just one of many factors that search engines use to determine the ranking of a website in search results. Other factors, such as relevance and quality of content, user experience, and on-page optimization, also play important roles in determining search engine rankings.

    On what basis do you give the information in one domain greater weight than the information in another domain when the data in one contradicts the other and the two domains are the only sources available to you?

    As an AI language model, I do not have beliefs or opinions, and I do not assign greater weight to information in one domain over another based on my personal biases. Instead, my responses are based on the data and information available to me, as well as the specific context and scope of the question.

    In situations where there are conflicting sources of information, it is important to consider the reliability and credibility of each source. Factors such as the methodology used to gather the data, the expertise and qualifications of the researchers or authors, and the reputation of the publication or organization can all be taken into account when assessing the credibility of a source.

    It is also important to consider any potential biases or conflicts of interest that may be present in the sources of information. For example, a study funded by a particular industry may be more likely to produce results that are favorable to that industry, while a study conducted by an independent research organization may be more objective.

    Ultimately, the decision on how to weigh conflicting information will depend on the specific situation and the individual or organization making the decision. It is important to carefully consider all available information and to be transparent about the decision-making process in order to promote transparency and accountability.

    In the context of the previous question, do you assign greater authority to information in websites that have a greater domain authority?

    Domain authority is a metric used to evaluate the credibility and trustworthiness of a website based on factors such as its age, popularity, and link profile. Websites with higher domain authority are generally considered to be more authoritative and trustworthy sources of information than websites with lower domain authority.

    However, domain authority should not be the only factor considered when evaluating the credibility and authority of a website. It is important to also consider the expertise and qualifications of the authors or researchers, the methodology used to gather and analyze the data, and any potential biases or conflicts of interest.

    In summary, while domain authority can be a useful tool for evaluating the credibility and authority of a website, it should not be the sole determining factor. It is important to consider multiple factors and sources of information when making decisions and drawing conclusions.

    Thank you. How do you handle a situation such as where you are asked for information about such and such, and, let’s say, there is a website with a high domain authority that makes a bald statement that such and such is black and twenty two websites with low domain authority that state that that such and such is white?

    In a situation like this, I would evaluate the credibility and reliability of all the sources of information available, including the website with high domain authority that states that “such and such” is black and the 22 websites with low domain authority that state that “such and such” is white.

    I would consider factors such as the expertise and qualifications of the authors or researchers, the methodology used to gather and analyze the data, and any potential biases or conflicts of interest. I would also evaluate the consistency of the information provided across multiple sources.

    If there is a significant discrepancy between the information provided by the high domain authority website and the low domain authority websites, I would seek additional sources of information and attempt to identify any possible biases or errors in the data. I would then present the available information in an objective and transparent manner, highlighting any areas of agreement and disagreement, and providing context and caveats where necessary.

    Ultimately, the decision on how to weigh conflicting information will depend on the specific situation and the individual or organization making the decision. It is important to carefully consider all available information and to be transparent about the decision-making process in order to promote transparency and accountability.

    Do you take domain authority into account when crafting a reply to a question?

    As an AI language model, I do not take domain authority into account when crafting a reply to a question. Instead, my responses are based on the data and information available to me, as well as the specific context and scope of the question.

    However, I can provide information about the concept of domain authority if it is relevant to the question being asked. Additionally, if a question specifically requests information about a particular website or source, I may take the domain authority of that website into account as one of many factors to consider when evaluating the credibility and reliability of the information provided.

    In replying to a question do you give greater weight to websites that Google ranks higher?

    As an AI language model, I do not give greater weight to websites that Google ranks higher when replying to a question. Instead, I aim to provide the most accurate and reliable information available to me, regardless of the source or ranking of the website.

    When crafting a response to a question, I evaluate the credibility and reliability of all the sources of information available, including those that may rank higher in search results. I consider factors such as the expertise and qualifications of the authors or researchers, the methodology used to gather and analyze the data, and any potential biases or conflicts of interest.

    I also take into account the specific context and scope of the question, and strive to provide a comprehensive and balanced response that considers multiple perspectives and sources of information.

    In summary, while search engine rankings may be a useful tool for identifying potential sources of information, they are not the sole determining factor in evaluating the credibility and reliability of information. As an AI language model, I aim to provide objective and accurate information that is based on multiple sources and perspectives.

  • Un Peu De Creance

    The phrase “un peu de croyance” is French and roughly translates to “a little bit of belief” or “a little bit of faith”. In the context of training a hawk, it refers to the measure of trust and confidence that the trainer needs to have in the hawk in order to train it.

    Somehow or other croyance becomes creance, and the phrase becomes un peu de creance. Creance means debt in modern French.

    The idea though is that until the bird is trained, the trainer has at most only a little faith that the bird will return, so in the training period the trainer uses a creance.

    A creance is a long, light cord used to tether a flying hawk or falcon during training.

    The creance itself is about 80 feet long, and designed to be of as little inconvenience as possible and hardly noticeable to the bird as it flies.

    Eventually, when the trainer knows the hawk will return, he removes the creance during flights.

    So that intermediate stage is un peu de creance – a bit of belief, a small measure of trust, a little faith.