Thursday, February 20, 2020
Locally owned since 1867
Keeping her dreams well in hand
Basketball court becomes a field of dreams
Born without a forearm, local teen receives new prosthetic By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
There’s not much Autumn Simpson is afraid of trying. “Oh, she’s fearless,” her mother, Tricia, notes. “She’s always been that way.” Simpson, 15, leads a typically busy teenager’s existence. The Marmaton Valley High
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Autumn Simpson, who was born without a right forearm, has maintained a typically busy teen-aged lifestyle. She’s now expanding her horizons through use of a bionic “Hero Arm.”
School sophomore is an honors student and keeps busy in several clubs in and out of school. She’s been in plays, the dance team, remains active with the Kansas Association of Youth and is a part of FFA. She never considered being born without a right forearm much of a disability, and isn’t about to start now. Basic tasks most take for granted — tying shoes, washing hair, climbing trees, even paddling a kayak — quickly became a matter of adapting, practicing and then overcoming barriers. “If she couldn’t get something, she just kept at it until she got it,” her mother said. “She’s kind of stubborn that way.” Simpson has used prosthetic arms along the way, getting the first as a 2-yearold; the second a few years later after outgrowing the first. Both had their drawbacks. As a youngster, she soon found the arm was per-
REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
Artificial intelligence still needs human help in detecting diseases BOSTON (AP) — Did an artificial-intelligence system beat human doctors in warning the world of a severe coronavirus outbreak in China? In a narrow sense, yes. But what the humans lacked in sheer speed, they more than made up in finesse. Early warnings of disease outbreaks can help people and governments save lives. In the final days of 2019, an AI system in Boston sent out the first global alert about a new viral outbreak in China. But it took human intelligence to recognize the significance of the outbreak and then awaken response from the public health community. What’s more, the mere mortals produced a similar alert only a half-hour behind the AI systems. For now, AI-powered disease-alert systems can still resemble car alarms — easily triggered and sometimes ignored. A network of medical experts and sleuths must still do the hard work of sifting through rumors to piece together the fuller picture. It’s difficult to say what future AI systems, powered by ever larger datasets on outbreaks, may be able to accomplish. The first public alert outside China about the novel coronavirus came on Dec. 30 from the automated Health-
Map system at Boston Children’s Hospital. At 11:12 p.m. local time, HealthMap sent an alert about unidentified pneumonia cases in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The system, which scans online news and social media reports, ranked the alert’s seriousness as only 3 out of 5. It took days for HealthMap researchers to recognize its importance. Four hours before the HealthMap notice, New York epidemiologist Marjorie Pollack had already started working on her own public alert, spurred by a growing sense of dread after reading a personal email she received that evening. “This is being passed around the internet here,” wrote her contact, who linked to a post on the Chinese social media forum Pincong. The post discussed a Wuhan health agency notice and read in part: “Unexplained pneumonia???” Pollack, deputy editor of See AI | Page A5
fect for pinching her older brothers. With the second, “it was really heavy, and it wouldn’t always do what I wanted it to,” she said, “so I didn’t use it a lot.” Fast forward to last fall, when Tricia Simpson learned about a new prosthetic that recently hit the market in Great Britain — the Hero Arm. Developed by Open Bionics, a UK-based start-up tech company, Hero Arms cost a fraction of their more traditional predecessors because they take advantage of 3D printing technology. They operate using sensors attached to the skin to detect muscle movements that move the hand and fingers. The company’s products have a decidedly science fiction approach. Simpson’s prosthetic, for example, is designed to look like she was cast in “Iron Man.” (She got to pick the design.) She has worked with the arm since receiving it in October, making regular therapy trips to Allen County Regional Hospital, and working with it in her spare time. “I use it a lot in my room,” See SIMPSON | Page A3
TOP BRASS
Allen Community College student Spencer Ames was selected to play the trombone for the Kansas Intercollegiate Orchestra. REGISTER/VICKIE MOSS
ACC student tapped for honors orchestra By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register
Spencer Ames doesn’t brag about his musical talents. “My mother always told me to be humble and kind,” the Allen Community College freshman said. “I don’t say much about my skills on the trombone. I just play and have fun.” So when it came time to audition for the Kansas
Vol. 121, No. 336 Iola, KS 75 Cents
Intercollegiate Orchestra, Ames found enjoyment even in the challenge of playing Igor Stravinsky’s “The Firebird Suite.” He spent more than a month practicing “Firebird,” one of two songs required for the audition. Ames submitted a recording of his work to be considered for the elite orchestra, which brings together the best college music students in Kansas for a onenight-only performance next
week at the Kansas Music Educators Association conference. “That was probably one of my least favorite songs,” he said. “Besides that bit of difficulty, it was a lot of fun having to audition with something I’d never dabbled with before.” He didn’t expect he would earn a place in the orchestra. “Even if you think you’re See AMES | Page A5
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