A year ago on this blog, I proposed that Major League Baseball scrap the All-Star Game in favor of a mid-summer NCAA-style tournament. A year later, there has been no action on my proposal (and we're surprised?), but with the end of June here, it is time to announce this year's seedings for our faux tournament.
For winning pennants last October, San Francisco and Detroit get first round-byes, and they are seeded #1 and #2. The rest of the teams are seeded based on their records as of Sunday morning, June 30. Yes, Pittsburgh is the #3 seed!
We'll take Monday off and start with triple-headers on Tuesday, July 16 -- for each site, the two games in the list are at 1PM and 4PM, with the finale at 7PM. Some potential intriguing matchups are 3/14 PIT/TAM, 7/10 ATL/BAL, and 5/12 BOS/NYY.
1 SFG BYE
17 COL vs. 16 WAS
25 CHC vs. 8 OAK
24 SEA vs. 9 CIN
---
2 DET
18 SDG vs. 15 TOR
26 NYM vs. 7 ATL
23 LAD vs. 10 BAL
---
30 MIA vs. 3 PIT
19 PHI vs. 14 TAM
27 CHW vs. 6 TEX
22 MIN vs. 11 CLE
---
29 HOU vs. 4 STL
20 KAN vs. 13 ARI
28 MIL vs. 5 BOS
21 LAA vs. 12 NYY
---
That will leave us 8 teams for Wednesday, July 17, so we'll play four games to get our Fast Ball Four. On Thursday, July 18, we'll have one more triple-header -- two games in the afternoon, and the finale starting at 8PM on Fox. Each player on the winning team gets a $1 million bonus.
Bracket contest, anyone?
The Orion Abduction: Ideas and Predictions -- Politics, Sports, Business, and Everything Else
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
What Can You Do With Your Continuous Glucose Monitor Data?
The mathematician in me has wondered what I can do about type-1 diabetes since my son was diagnosed in 2007.
If you don't know, type-1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the beta cells in the pancreas are destroyed by the body's immune system. Scientists are still trying to determine the true causes of type-1, but it is not a communicable disease. There is evidence that there is a genetic predisposition to type-1, but something in the environment is triggering the beta cell destruction. The incidence of new cases of type-1 is increasing worldwide. JDRF, an organization that I volunteer for, works to prevent, treat, and cure type-1 diabetes.
Treating type-1 involves the on-going monitoring of blood glucose, and the introduction of artificial insulin to "cover carbs" in the diet and "correct" high blood sugar without "going low". Blood glucose levels can be measured several times a day by pricking the finger and using a glucose meter. More recently, people with type-1 diabetes are starting to use continuous glucose monitors, or CGMs, which measure blood sugar automatically every five minutes.
Beyond the on-going monitoring of blood glucose and food carbohydrates, and trying to determine how exercise and illness affects my son's numbers, I have asked myself what else I can do with my mathematical training? Since 2009, exploring connections between mathematics and type-1 diabetes has been part of my research program as a mathematics professor. In 2009, I learned about mathematical models of type-1 diabetes, and using a large dataset of CGM data, I worked with two students to find a way to cluster diabetic patients based on the variability of their blood glucose -- how much their CGM numbers bounce around. In 2013, there is a lot of interest in studying blood glucose variability.
More recently, I created a calculation called the "CGM Score" that anyone can use to analyze their CGM numbers. Simply put, the larger the score, the more the numbers are bouncing around and are out of the target range of 70 to 140.
If you use a continuous glucose monitor and would like to calculate your CGM Score and learn more about it, here are two files for you:
Article about the CGM Score
Excel spreadsheet to calculate the CGM Score
I would appreciate any feedback you have (e-mail: aboufade@gvsu.edu).
If you don't know, type-1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the beta cells in the pancreas are destroyed by the body's immune system. Scientists are still trying to determine the true causes of type-1, but it is not a communicable disease. There is evidence that there is a genetic predisposition to type-1, but something in the environment is triggering the beta cell destruction. The incidence of new cases of type-1 is increasing worldwide. JDRF, an organization that I volunteer for, works to prevent, treat, and cure type-1 diabetes.
Treating type-1 involves the on-going monitoring of blood glucose, and the introduction of artificial insulin to "cover carbs" in the diet and "correct" high blood sugar without "going low". Blood glucose levels can be measured several times a day by pricking the finger and using a glucose meter. More recently, people with type-1 diabetes are starting to use continuous glucose monitors, or CGMs, which measure blood sugar automatically every five minutes.
Beyond the on-going monitoring of blood glucose and food carbohydrates, and trying to determine how exercise and illness affects my son's numbers, I have asked myself what else I can do with my mathematical training? Since 2009, exploring connections between mathematics and type-1 diabetes has been part of my research program as a mathematics professor. In 2009, I learned about mathematical models of type-1 diabetes, and using a large dataset of CGM data, I worked with two students to find a way to cluster diabetic patients based on the variability of their blood glucose -- how much their CGM numbers bounce around. In 2013, there is a lot of interest in studying blood glucose variability.
More recently, I created a calculation called the "CGM Score" that anyone can use to analyze their CGM numbers. Simply put, the larger the score, the more the numbers are bouncing around and are out of the target range of 70 to 140.
If you use a continuous glucose monitor and would like to calculate your CGM Score and learn more about it, here are two files for you:
Article about the CGM Score
Excel spreadsheet to calculate the CGM Score
I would appreciate any feedback you have (e-mail: aboufade@gvsu.edu).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)