Latest news with #RobertGray
NBC News
12-06-2025
- Climate
- NBC News
Smoke from Canadian wildfires hits air quality across U.S. Midwest and Northeast
Canadian wildfire smoke is triggering air quality alerts across the U.S. Midwest and Northeast on Thursday, as the northern nation's boreal forests continue to burn at a rate not seen except for a historic season in 2023. Smoke from the fires, along with ozone from heat, raised air pollution levels in Minneapolis, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Columbus, Pittsburgh, D.C., Philadelphia and New York, among other cities. The fire season is off to a roaring start in Canada. So far, about 8.6 million acres have burned, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. With the end of fire season still three months away, the area burned is already well above Canada's seasonal average, which since 1983 is about 6.5 million acres. The pace of burning in Canada is on a similar trend to 2023, which was the worst year for smoke exposure in modern U.S. history. Fire experts in Canada are concerned that the season is staged for a reprise. 'Everyone is on pins and needles expecting a year as bad as 2023,' said Robert Gray, a Canadian wildfire ecologist based in Chilliwack, British Columbia. 'The forecast for most of Canada is definitely above normal for temperatures and below normal for precipitation.' By season's end, about 43 million acres burned across Canada that year. Gray said most of the smoke this year is being produced by dense boreal forest in northern parts of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Boreal regions typically see wildfire in May and June, when the days are long and temperatures begin to rise. What happens next depends on the weather. 'It can be a quick two-week blip. The boreal starts to burn, the aspen starts to leaf out and then the weather changes,' Gray said, referring to aspen trees common to these forests. 'If we don't get the rains and leaf-out with the aspen, it could just keep going.' Parts of northern British Columbia have been mired in drought since 2022, according to the BC Wildfire Service, which predicted 'an increased likelihood of large, challenging fires' in parts of the province. Gray said the drought, low winter snowfall and an increase of 'overwintering' fires that persist from season to season are factors that have increased the likelihood of a busy fire season. Overwintering fires continue through winter by smoldering in forest duff and peat underground, only to start up again in the spring. 'We have fires that started in 2023, and they held over through the winter into 2024,' Gray said. 'Some of the same fires have popped up this year.' When northern British Columbia burns, smoke from the fires is often carried down to the U.S. by the jet stream, a ribbon of air that encircles the Northern Hemisphere at altitude and drives pressure changes and weather patterns. 'That's a pretty structured pattern. That doesn't change a lot. As long as central and northern B.C. are burning in the boreal, that pattern is going to deliver smoke to the central and northeast U.S.,' Gray said. Sometimes that smoke will stay aloft, contributing to hazy skies but not diminishing air quality substantially on the ground. Other times, it puts people at risk. Wildfire smoke is a growing hazard across the U.S. and increasing exposure to it has chipped away at decades of air pollution progress from the Clean Air Act. Exposure to wildfire smoke can cause inflammation and weaken the immune system, particularly when its particles penetrate the lungs and the bloodstream. This pollution may increase the risk of asthma, lung cancer or other chronic lung diseases, particularly in vulnerable groups like older people, pregnant people, infants and children. Wildfire smoke is also associated with respiratory disease, preterm birth and miscarriage.
Cambrian News
10-06-2025
- Business
- Cambrian News
Six-figure investment gets cliff railway back on track
Robert Gray, Director of Constitution Hill Limited said: 'Our railway is an iconic attraction and an important part of local heritage. It's enjoyed by thousands of visitors each year, most of whom go on to spend time and money in the local area. The support of Welsh Government and the funding from the Development Bank has made the biggest difference to the future sustainability of the railway; allowing us to carry out essential maintenance work and invest in our facilities for the benefit of local people and visitors alike.'
American Military News
23-05-2025
- Health
- American Military News
Some doctors increasingly using artificial intelligence to take notes during appointments
It was easy to miss Dr. Robert Gray's quick movements, tapping the screen of his smartphone at the beginning and end of patient visits on a recent day. But Gray said those fast finger taps have changed his life. He was tapping an app that records discussions during his appointments and then uses artificial intelligence to find the relevant information, summarize it and zap it, within seconds, into each patient's electronic medical record. The technology was meticulously documenting each visit so Gray didn't have to. Orthopedic surgeon Robert Grayholds his iPhone after completing a visit with a patient at his office in the Endeavor Health medical building. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune/TNS) 'I enjoy working so much more,' said Gray, an Endeavor Health hand surgeon. He's no longer trying to consult with patients while simultaneously summarizing the visits on a computer. 'I don't have the feeling I got hit by a truck every day.' It's a technology that's spreading rapidly throughout doctors' offices in the Chicago area and across the country, and could soon become a standard part of medical appointments. Local health care leaders hope the technology will help combat physician burnout by dramatically cutting the amount of time doctors spend on documentation, and they hope it will improve patients' experiences. Doctors will be able to spend more time looking patients in the eye, rather than staring at computer screens during appointments, health care leaders say. 'It allows them to get home to be with their families or allows them to focus entirely on the patient,' said Dr. Nadim Ilbawi, system medical director of ambulatory innovation for Endeavor. About 50 of Endeavor's primary care doctors and specialists have been using the ambient listening technology, made by a company named Abridge, since September. Other local health systems have taken generative AI note-taking technologies even further. Orthopedic surgeon Robert Gray, left, examines the wrist and arm of patient Catherine Gregory while his phone listens and transcribes the conversation at Endeavor Health medical building. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune/TNS) Northwestern Medicine has about 300 of its physicians using a similar technology offered by Microsoft called DAX Copilot, and Rush University System for Health has about 100 clinicians using DAX Copilot as well as a technology made by another company. At UChicago Medicine, about 550 clinicians are using the Abridge technology, and about 1,300 providers are using DAX Copilot at Advocate Health Care in Illinois and Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin. Beyond Illinois, health care systems Kaiser Permanente and Johns Hopkins Medicine are among those who've agreed to offer Abridge across their systems. Now, the technologies are mostly being used in the Chicago area during appointments with patients in offices and clinics, but several local systems say they plan to soon offer them to doctors in emergency rooms, urgent cares and nurses and to those providing care to patients staying overnight in hospitals. Leaders at the systems say that, so far, they've seen positive results from using the technologies, and some say they hope to eventually offer them to all of their providers. 'It's going to become ubiquitous very soon,' said Dr. Nirav S. Shah, associate chief medical informatics officer for AI and innovation at Endeavor. So far, health systems say it's been optional for doctors, and they don't foresee forcing providers to use it. It's also optional for patients. Typically, the doctor or medical staff member will ask the patient for permission to use the technology at the start of the appointment. Generally, if the patient says it's OK, the doctor will then access it through an app on their phone. The doctor can tap their phone screen, and the app will start recording. The Abridge app records audio of the conversation and then transcribes it. The transcription is then sent to a cloud — neither the transcription nor the recording is stored on the doctor's phone. Artificial intelligence sorts the relevant parts of the conversation — such as discussion about medical and socioeconomic issues — from small talk and other irrelevant parts, creating notes about the appointment in the patient's electronic medical record. The doctor then reviews the notes in the medical record, making sure they're accurate, and can make changes before signing off on them. The audio or transcript of the appointment is eventually destroyed, leaving only the medical record behind. So far, Gray said he hasn't had any patients say no to the technology. Dr. Douglas Dorman, a family medicine physician at Advocate Health Care in Yorkville, said he's had fewer than 10 patients reject the idea since he started using the technology. Catherine Gregory, who saw Gray on a recent day after undergoing surgery for a broken arm, said it seemed like a good idea as a way to help doctors give patients more of their undivided attention. 'I'm for it,' said Gregory, 62, of Chicago, 'because I want his attention on me, especially if I'm in pain, like today. I don't want you to miss anything I'm saying about the pain I'm in.' Patient Robert Johnston, 61, of West Rogers Park, said he'd never heard of the technology before visiting Gray. At first, he worried it might be intrusive, especially if he were discussing a sensitive topic with a doctor. But he said he can also see how it could help doctors and patients have better relationships. 'It's a lot better when they're able to speak directly to me,' he said of doctors. 'As long as privacy concerns are protected, I think it's a great idea.' Local health systems said the companies they chose to supply the technologies had to meet the systems' security and privacy requirements. Breaches and cyberattacks have become common at health systems across the country in recent years. 'We take security very, very, very seriously so it was definitely evaluated strongly,' said Dr. Betsy Winga, vice president of medical informatics and chief medical informatics officer for Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care. She said she couldn't discuss the costs of the technology, but said, 'The benefit we have seen from it, from a clinician experience standpoint, is just priceless.' Overall, Dorman, with Advocate, said patients seem to appreciate it — or at least what it's meant for their interactions with him. Patients have told him he seems more relaxed and less stressed, he said. 'I get to come back to work each day refreshed, recharged, excited to be there,' Dorman said. 'I really think it improves my demeanor.' Doctors who've used the technology say, in some ways, it's helped them return to an earlier time in medicine, when they didn't have to spend as much time on documentation. A federal law passed in 2009 incentivized the use of electronic medical records as a way to make records more easily accessible, increase patient privacy and improve patient safety. Later the federal government began penalizing providers who didn't use them in a meaningful way. Doctors say that, over time, the amount of information they've had to enter in the records has grown. In many cases, that's left doctors with two choices: either try to document patients' visits during their appointments or finish their documentation at the end of the day, which can often mean hours of extra work. According to an American Medical Association survey, doctors in 2023 said they worked 59-hour workweeks, on average, and nearly eight hours of that time was devoted to administrative tasks. About 48% of the doctors who responded to the AMA survey reported experiencing at least one symptom of burnout. Doctors and health care leaders refer to time spent on administrative tasks outside of the workday as 'pajama time.' Northwestern saw a 17% decrease in pajama time among its clinicians who used the AI note-taking technology, and Advocate Health Care saw nearly a 15% reduction. Dorman, with Advocate, said he used to spend 20 to 25 hours a week working on documentation, after hours. He said he used to be the last one to leave the office each day. Now, he said he spends about 30 minutes a week on the task. He said the technology has been 'life-changing.' Before the technology, Dr. Melissa Holmes, a pediatrician at Rush, would type some of her notes during the day and others in the evenings, at home, after her kids went to bed. She said she's still doing some work in the evenings, but it takes much less time to check over and edit the AI notes than it did to type all of her own. The technology has also helped her be more present with her patients, she said. 'Before, I felt kind of tied to my computer screen because I didn't want to miss anything,' said Holmes, who is also an associate chief medical information officer for the system. 'Now, as a parent is pointing out something they're concerned about in a child, I can be at the bedside looking at it with the parent rather than typing it in and then looking at it.' ___ © 2025 Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
On This Day, April 10: 'Great Gatsby' by Fitzgerald published
April 10 (UPI) -- On this date in history: In 1790, merchant Robert Gray docked at Boston Harbor, becoming the first American to circumnavigate the globe. He had sailed from Boston in September 1787. In 1866, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was founded by Henry Bergh. In 1912, the Titanic left port in Southampton, England, beginning its fateful voyage. In 1916, the Professional Golfers Association of America was founded. In 1919, Emiliano Zapata, a leader of peasants and indigenous people during the Mexican Revolution, was ambushed and killed in Morelos by government forces. In 1925, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published. It would become the subject of several small and big screen, and stage adaptations over the decades. In 1942, the Bataan Death March, during which thousands of Filipinos and Americans died, began in the Philippines. Hoyt R. Haynie of El Dorado, Ark., who survived the 55-mile march, but saw many of his friends die, would later proclaim, "I'm an American, I'm proud to be an American and as far as I'm concerned, that's all there is to be." In 1963, the U.S. nuclear submarine Thresher sank in the Atlantic Ocean 220 miles east of Boston. All 129 men on board were lost. Investigators determined the vessel sank due to a piping failure. In 1971, the U.S. table tennis team arrived in China, the first U.S. group to penetrate the so-called Bamboo Curtain since the 1950s. In 1972, during his first visit to the United States in 20 years, movie pioneer and comic Charlie Chaplin accepted an honorary Academy Award for his "incalculable" contribution to the art of filmmaking. In 1991, an Italian ferry headed to Sardinia collided with an oil tanker near Leghorn, Italy, killing 151 ferry passengers and crew members. The tanker crew survived. In 1998, Britain and Ireland reached an agreement aimed at ending the long and bloody dispute over the future of Northern Ireland. In 2006, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was narrowly beaten in his bid for another term by former premier Romano Prodi. In 2010, Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife, Maria, and top government officials were among scores killed when their plane crashed while trying to land in a thick fog in western Russia. In 2014, CBS said Stephen Colbert would replace David Letterman on The Late Show when the longtime host stepped down in 2015. In 2016, a fireworks explosion at the Paravur Puttingal Devi Temple in Paravur, India, left 106 dead and 400 injured. In 2019, an international team of scientists shared the first image of a supermassive black hole. In 2022, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan lost a no-confidence vote by Parliament and was ousted from power. Nawaz Sharif replaced him.
