2024 - Page 225 of 232 - Cactus three

An Ultrasound Experiment Tackles a Giant Problem in Brain Medicine

15

Jan

Health

An Ultrasound Experiment Tackles a Giant Problem in Brain Medicine

There is a problem with the recently approved Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm. It can remove some of the amyloid that forms brain plaques that are hallmarks of the disease. But most of the drug is wasted because it hits an obstacle, the blood-brain barrier, that protects the brain from toxins and infections but also prevents many drugs from entering.Researchers wondered if they could improve that grim result by trying something different: they would open the blood-brain barrier for a short time while they delivered the drug. Their experimental method was to use highly focused pulses of ultrasound along with tiny gas…

Naomi Osaka, The Comeback Interview: A tale of pregnancy, fear and a ballerina

15

Jan

By Benjamin Hall

New miscellaneous

Naomi Osaka, The Comeback Interview: A tale of pregnancy, fear and a ballerina

It was late September when Naomi Osaka, the four-time Grand Slam champion and transcendent star of her sport, finally got on the phone with her former coach to talk about her next comeback. Wim Fissette is a cerebral Belgian who thinks long and hard before taking on a player, even one with a resume like Osaka’s. He had one, very serious question.Is it going to be different this time?There was then another conversation, with Florian Zitzelsberger, a 34-year-old German who is one of the most respected strength and conditioning coaches in the world. Zitzelsberger had worked with Osaka before, too. He…

California Has Dealt a Blow to Renewable Energy, Some Businesses Say

15

Jan

By Benjamin Hall

Science and Technology

California Has Dealt a Blow to Renewable Energy, Some Businesses Say

California has long championed renewable energy, but a change in the state’s policies last year has led to a sharp decline in the installation of residential rooftop solar in the state.Thousands of companies — including installers, manufacturers and distributors — are reeling from the new policy, which took effect in April and greatly reduced incentives that had encouraged homeowners to install solar panels. Since the change, sales of rooftop solar installations in California dropped as much as 85 percent in some months of 2023 from a year earlier, according to a report by Ohm Analytics, a research firm that tracks…

Supreme Court to Hear Starbucks Bid to Overturn Labor Ruling

15

Jan

By Benjamin Hall

Investments and Business

Supreme Court to Hear Starbucks Bid to Overturn Labor Ruling

The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear a case brought by Starbucks challenging a federal judge’s order to reinstate seven employees who were fired at a store in Memphis amid a union campaign there.Starbucks argued that the criteria for such intervention by judges in labor cases, which can also include measures like reopening shuttered stores, vary across regions of the country because federal appeals courts may adhere to different standards.A regional director for the National Labor Relations Board, the company’s opponent in the case, argued that the apparent differences in criteria among appeals courts were semantic rather than substantive,…

A Russian Dissident’s Fraught Path to Canadian Citizenship

13

Jan

By Benjamin Hall

New miscellaneous

A Russian Dissident’s Fraught Path to Canadian Citizenship

When Maria Kartasheva appeared at a Canadian citizenship ceremony last June, she thought she would be cutting up her permanent resident card and taking an oath. Instead, officials blocked her from participating, saying that her criminal charges in Russia, for criticizing the war in Ukraine, might disqualify her from citizenship.On Tuesday afternoon, she finally took her oath in a virtual ceremony from her home in Ottawa and became a Canadian citizen. But the moment came after what she described as a nerve-racking seven-month saga that included a frenzied effort to garner public support for her case. If she had been…

Federal Scientists Recommend Easing Restrictions on Marijuana

13

Jan

By Benjamin Hall

Health

Federal Scientists Recommend Easing Restrictions on Marijuana

Marijuana is neither as risky nor as prone to abuse as other tightly controlled substances and has potential medical benefits, and therefore should be removed from the nation’s most restrictive category of drugs, federal scientists have concluded.The recommendations are contained in a 250-page scientific review provided to Matthew Zorn, a Texas lawyer who sued Health and Human Services officials for its release and published it online on Friday night. An H.H.S. official confirmed the authenticity of the document.The records shed light for the first time on the thinking of federal health officials who are pondering a momentous change. The agencies…