Among the teenage crowd, the phrase 'Netflix & chill' does not necessarily mean 'let's binge-watch Game of Thrones while drinking insane amounts of beer.' It's code for 'let's have sex.'
"Netflix and chill is a classic case of social media-fueled semantic drift," writes Kevin Roose. "It began as a plain, descriptive phrase ("Can't wait to leave work so I can watch Netflix and chill!"), and stayed that way for years before acquiring a loose sexual connotation ("Wanna come over for Netflix and chill?") and, eventually became a known code phrase ("He said he loves me, but I know he just wants to Netflix and chill")."
It took shape on "Black Twitter" - social media circles of AfricanAmericans and spread to Tumblr, Imgur and Instagram, spawning variations and memes. Now Netflix is trying to take the phrase back by running campaigns about actually watching Netflix and chilling. It's not winning.
For more: fusion.net
Monday 31 August 2015
Special Swiss trains for `rude' Chinese
After complaints from other tourists about their "rude and noisy behaviour", a mountain resort in Switzerland has launched a special train service only for Chinese vacationers.
The move also attends to providing better care to the growing number of Chinese travellers to one of Europe's leading holiday destination.
Swiss newspaper Blick reported that some passengers have complained about Chinese tourists spitting, shouting and gesticulating while filling train carriages with sheer numbers. It's proving to be a disquieting experience for many sightseers seeking peace and relaxation at Mount Rigi in the Alps, the paper said. It's hoped the trains for Chinese vacationers would help avoid bad vibes between Chinese and other tourists, Swiss daily Blick said. The toilets are being cleaned more often.Signs have been put up "showing how to use these correctly", Blick reported.
As the number of brash Chinese tourists is growing, more special trains will be pressed into service, bringing their number to 20 every week. The move irked many Chinese netizens who said Switzerland benefits hugely from Chinese tourists and should not be complaining. Besides, Swiss should pay special attention to the needs of Chinese tourists as they are helping revive the Swiss economy , they said on social media. "Rigi seems to be firmly in Chinese hands!" Blick said, while reporting that at least half the tourists at the mountain city were Chinese.
The move also attends to providing better care to the growing number of Chinese travellers to one of Europe's leading holiday destination.
Swiss newspaper Blick reported that some passengers have complained about Chinese tourists spitting, shouting and gesticulating while filling train carriages with sheer numbers. It's proving to be a disquieting experience for many sightseers seeking peace and relaxation at Mount Rigi in the Alps, the paper said. It's hoped the trains for Chinese vacationers would help avoid bad vibes between Chinese and other tourists, Swiss daily Blick said. The toilets are being cleaned more often.Signs have been put up "showing how to use these correctly", Blick reported.
As the number of brash Chinese tourists is growing, more special trains will be pressed into service, bringing their number to 20 every week. The move irked many Chinese netizens who said Switzerland benefits hugely from Chinese tourists and should not be complaining. Besides, Swiss should pay special attention to the needs of Chinese tourists as they are helping revive the Swiss economy , they said on social media. "Rigi seems to be firmly in Chinese hands!" Blick said, while reporting that at least half the tourists at the mountain city were Chinese.
Doctors find 26 roaches in teen's ear
A 19-year-old from Melbourne, who went to his doctor complaining of an ear ache, was horrified when he was told that 26 cockroaches were living inside his ear.
Li, had an itch in his ear that grew increasingly painful, according to reports. The next day, Li visited the hospital, where doctors performed an endoscopy and found his ear was packed with cockroaches.
A female cockroach had been living in Li's ear canal for weeks and had laid eggs. If Li had not come to the hospital on time, his ear could have been severely damaged.
Li, had an itch in his ear that grew increasingly painful, according to reports. The next day, Li visited the hospital, where doctors performed an endoscopy and found his ear was packed with cockroaches.
A female cockroach had been living in Li's ear canal for weeks and had laid eggs. If Li had not come to the hospital on time, his ear could have been severely damaged.
Tuesday 25 August 2015
Europe needs baby boom to avert population disaster
As authorities in Europe struggle to keep asylum seekers at bay , a demographic crisis is unfolding in many countries in the continent as they desperately need more young people to populate its rural areas and look after its elderly because its societies are no longer self sustaining, according to a media report.
Spain has one of the lowest fertility rates in the EU, with an average of 1.27 children born for every woman of childbearing age, compared to the EU average of 1.55. Spain's crippling economic crisis has seen a net exodus of people from the country , as hundreds of thousands of Spaniards and migrants leave in the hope of finding jobs abroad. The result is that, since 2012, Spain's population has been shrinking, The Guardian reported.
In Portugal, the population has been shrinking since 2010.For many analysts, the question now is how low can it go, with projections by the National Statistics Institute suggesting Portugal's population could drop from 10.5 million to 6.3 million by 2060.
According to Portuguese PM Pedro Passos Coelho: "We've got really serious problems." In Italy the retired population is soaring, with the proportion of over-65s set to rise from 2.7% last year to 18.8% in 2050. Germany has the lowest birthrate in the world: 8.2 per 1,000 population between 2008 and 2013, claims a study by the Hamburg-based world economy institute, the HWWI. Coelho has said the next 10 to 15 years would be decisive in reversing the trend. If no action is taken, he said last year, "these issues will only be solved by a miracle."
Ad hoc political solutions at a national level are failing. Italy has tried to overcome its bleak demographic outlook with initiatives ranging from pension cuts to a baby bonus, but the statistics are not on their side, the report said.
Europe is facing the demographic crisis at a time when record numbers of economic migrants and asylum-seekers are seeking to enter the European Union this summer, the report noted.
(Source: PTI, London)
Spain has one of the lowest fertility rates in the EU, with an average of 1.27 children born for every woman of childbearing age, compared to the EU average of 1.55. Spain's crippling economic crisis has seen a net exodus of people from the country , as hundreds of thousands of Spaniards and migrants leave in the hope of finding jobs abroad. The result is that, since 2012, Spain's population has been shrinking, The Guardian reported.
In Portugal, the population has been shrinking since 2010.For many analysts, the question now is how low can it go, with projections by the National Statistics Institute suggesting Portugal's population could drop from 10.5 million to 6.3 million by 2060.
According to Portuguese PM Pedro Passos Coelho: "We've got really serious problems." In Italy the retired population is soaring, with the proportion of over-65s set to rise from 2.7% last year to 18.8% in 2050. Germany has the lowest birthrate in the world: 8.2 per 1,000 population between 2008 and 2013, claims a study by the Hamburg-based world economy institute, the HWWI. Coelho has said the next 10 to 15 years would be decisive in reversing the trend. If no action is taken, he said last year, "these issues will only be solved by a miracle."
Ad hoc political solutions at a national level are failing. Italy has tried to overcome its bleak demographic outlook with initiatives ranging from pension cuts to a baby bonus, but the statistics are not on their side, the report said.
Europe is facing the demographic crisis at a time when record numbers of economic migrants and asylum-seekers are seeking to enter the European Union this summer, the report noted.
(Source: PTI, London)
Woman crash lands plane after pilot passes out
A Spanish woman who had never flown a plane brought a microlight aircraft in for a crash landing after her pilot husband lost consciousness during the flight, officials said on 24th August 2015.
She was recovering in a hospital in the city of Seville.
Air traffic controllers talked her through the procedure for 90 minutes before she landed.
She was recovering in a hospital in the city of Seville.
Air traffic controllers talked her through the procedure for 90 minutes before she landed.
After fight with landlord, woman starts living on trains
When others get off the train to go home, Leonie Muller, a German college student, stays behind. That is because she is already home: The train is her apartment, and she says she likes it that way.
Muller gave up her apartment in spring. "It all started with a dispute I had with my landlord," Muller told The Washington Post via email. "I instantly decided I didn't want to live there anymore and then I realised: Actually, I didn't want to live anywhere anymore."
She bought a subscription that allows her to board every train in the country for free.Now, Muller washes her hair in the train bathroom and writes her college papers while travelling at a speed of up to 190 mph.
She says that she enjoys the liberty she has experienced since she gave up her apartment. "I really feel at home on trains, and can visit so many more friends and cities. It's like being on vacation all the time," Muller said. Since risking the move, Muller's life fits into a small backpack in which she carries clothes, her tablet computer, college documents and a sanitary bag.
Financially, she benefits from living on a train: The flatrate ticket costs her about $380, whereas she had to pay about $450 for her previous apartment. Living cheaper, however, is not the only goal she has in mind.
"I want to inspire people to question their habits and the things they consider to be normal," Muller said. She is documenting the unusual experiment on a blog. Her final undergraduate paper will be based on her experiences as a modern train-nomad.
(Source: IANS, Cologne)
Muller gave up her apartment in spring. "It all started with a dispute I had with my landlord," Muller told The Washington Post via email. "I instantly decided I didn't want to live there anymore and then I realised: Actually, I didn't want to live anywhere anymore."
She bought a subscription that allows her to board every train in the country for free.Now, Muller washes her hair in the train bathroom and writes her college papers while travelling at a speed of up to 190 mph.
She says that she enjoys the liberty she has experienced since she gave up her apartment. "I really feel at home on trains, and can visit so many more friends and cities. It's like being on vacation all the time," Muller said. Since risking the move, Muller's life fits into a small backpack in which she carries clothes, her tablet computer, college documents and a sanitary bag.
Financially, she benefits from living on a train: The flatrate ticket costs her about $380, whereas she had to pay about $450 for her previous apartment. Living cheaper, however, is not the only goal she has in mind.
"I want to inspire people to question their habits and the things they consider to be normal," Muller said. She is documenting the unusual experiment on a blog. Her final undergraduate paper will be based on her experiences as a modern train-nomad.
(Source: IANS, Cologne)
Thursday 20 August 2015
Internet effect - teens now prone to self-harm
Today's teenagers are less likely to get pregnant at a young age and are turning away from drink, drugs and cigarettes -but are increasingly engaging in self-harm, suffering from eating disorders and not getting enough sleep, according to a government paper.
The findings, published by a group of Britain's most senior civil servants, suggest that the pervasion of the internet and social media, coupled with better parental monitoring and supervision, has prompted major changes in the behaviour of the country's youth.
At a meeting chaired by the UK government's chief scientific adviser, experts told the group that "digital immersion" had resulted in a "rapid and dramatic societal shift" which was already having a profound impact on young people.
While some said that the popularity of social media and computer games had left children with "less time and opportunity to participate in traditional risk behaviours" such as underage drinking, others pointed out that the anonymity of the internet had made obtaining “legal highs“ and "designer drugs" much easier for them.
For many , the internet provided a valuable source of information and could help them answer questions about mental or sexual health, the paper said.
(Source: Chris Green, THE INDEPENDENT)
The findings, published by a group of Britain's most senior civil servants, suggest that the pervasion of the internet and social media, coupled with better parental monitoring and supervision, has prompted major changes in the behaviour of the country's youth.
At a meeting chaired by the UK government's chief scientific adviser, experts told the group that "digital immersion" had resulted in a "rapid and dramatic societal shift" which was already having a profound impact on young people.
While some said that the popularity of social media and computer games had left children with "less time and opportunity to participate in traditional risk behaviours" such as underage drinking, others pointed out that the anonymity of the internet had made obtaining “legal highs“ and "designer drugs" much easier for them.
For many , the internet provided a valuable source of information and could help them answer questions about mental or sexual health, the paper said.
(Source: Chris Green, THE INDEPENDENT)
Women with full stomach are 'hungry' for romance
The way to a woman's heart may be through her stomach, according to a new study which found that women's brains respond more to romantic cues on a full stomach than an empty one.
Researchers at Drexel University in the US explored brain circuitry in hungry versus satiated states among women who were past-dieters and those who had never dieted. "We found that young women both with and without a history of dieting had greater brain activation in response to romantic pictures in reward related neural regions after having eaten than when hungry," said the study's first author Alice Ely.
The results are contrary to several previous studies, which showed that people typically demonstrate greater sensitivity to rewarding stimuli when hungry. Such stimuli may include things like food, money and drugs. The latest finding, based on a small pilot study , grew from Ely and her Drexel colleagues' earlier work investigating how the brain changes in response to food cues.
(Source: PTI, Washington)
Researchers at Drexel University in the US explored brain circuitry in hungry versus satiated states among women who were past-dieters and those who had never dieted. "We found that young women both with and without a history of dieting had greater brain activation in response to romantic pictures in reward related neural regions after having eaten than when hungry," said the study's first author Alice Ely.
The results are contrary to several previous studies, which showed that people typically demonstrate greater sensitivity to rewarding stimuli when hungry. Such stimuli may include things like food, money and drugs. The latest finding, based on a small pilot study , grew from Ely and her Drexel colleagues' earlier work investigating how the brain changes in response to food cues.
(Source: PTI, Washington)
Gone in 8 months - what Earth produces in a year
Consumption pace faster in 2015, 6 Days earlier than 2014.
Humanity has already used up 100% of the resources produced by the Earth this year, meaning that any consumption from now on represents an unsustainable burden on the planet. Known as Earth Overshoot Day , the moment when humanity exceeds nature's budget for the year was reached on August 13 - six days earlier than in 2014.
Calculated by the Global Footprint Network (GFN) sustainability think-tank, the landmark is a recent concept. Humanity lived within the Earth's means up until 1970 but, driven largely by carbon emissions, it has been in steadily increasing debt ever since. It means humanity is on course to consume the equivalent of 1.6 Earths this year and, if the current course is maintained, we will be using the resources of two Earths per year by 2030. The only way to reverse the trajectory of Earth Overshoot Day and push it back later in the year, GFN president Mathis Wackernagel said, is to drastically cut carbon emissions. "Humanity's carbon footprint alone more than doubled since the early 1970s, when the world went into ecological overshoot," he said.
Looking forward to the COP 2015 UN climate summit in Paris later this year, Wackernagel said that meeting the global commitment to reduce emissions 30% by 2030 would see Earth Overshoot Day pushed back to September 16.
Wackernagel said "We cannot stress enough the vital importance of reducing carbon footprint, as nations are slated to commit to in Paris. It is not just good for the world, but increasingly becoming an economic necessity for each nation. We know that the climate depends on it, but that is not the full story: Sustainability requires that everyone live well, within the means of one planet. This can only be achieved by keeping our ecological footprint within our planet's resource budget."
(Source: Adam Withnall, THE INDEPENDENT)
Humanity has already used up 100% of the resources produced by the Earth this year, meaning that any consumption from now on represents an unsustainable burden on the planet. Known as Earth Overshoot Day , the moment when humanity exceeds nature's budget for the year was reached on August 13 - six days earlier than in 2014.
Calculated by the Global Footprint Network (GFN) sustainability think-tank, the landmark is a recent concept. Humanity lived within the Earth's means up until 1970 but, driven largely by carbon emissions, it has been in steadily increasing debt ever since. It means humanity is on course to consume the equivalent of 1.6 Earths this year and, if the current course is maintained, we will be using the resources of two Earths per year by 2030. The only way to reverse the trajectory of Earth Overshoot Day and push it back later in the year, GFN president Mathis Wackernagel said, is to drastically cut carbon emissions. "Humanity's carbon footprint alone more than doubled since the early 1970s, when the world went into ecological overshoot," he said.
Looking forward to the COP 2015 UN climate summit in Paris later this year, Wackernagel said that meeting the global commitment to reduce emissions 30% by 2030 would see Earth Overshoot Day pushed back to September 16.
Wackernagel said "We cannot stress enough the vital importance of reducing carbon footprint, as nations are slated to commit to in Paris. It is not just good for the world, but increasingly becoming an economic necessity for each nation. We know that the climate depends on it, but that is not the full story: Sustainability requires that everyone live well, within the means of one planet. This can only be achieved by keeping our ecological footprint within our planet's resource budget."
(Source: Adam Withnall, THE INDEPENDENT)
Web overuse may make you forgetful, can lead to cognitive failures
Web overuse may make you forgetful, can lead to cognitive failures: Study.
Whether sitting on a train or having din ner at a restaurant, many people find it hard to stop fiddling with their mobile phones -firing off a never-ending stream of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter posts. If this online hyperactivity looks exhausting, it's no surprise to discover that these high-frequency internet users find it much more difficult to pay attention to what's going on around them than the rest of us -even when they are not consumed by the web.
New research finds that the most frequent mobile phone and internet users are the most likely to be distracted, for example by being prone to missing important appointments and daydreaming while having a conversation. In the first study of its kind, an academic from Leicester's De Montfort University has found that the more times a person uses the internet or their mobile phone, the more likely they are to experience "cognitive failures". These include a whole range of blunders, and a general lack of awareness of a person's surroundings that stretches as far as people forgetting why they have just gone from one part of the house to the other says Dr Lee Hadlington, author of the research. The study draws the same conclusions among users of mobile phones without internet access as with it - suggesting that mobile phone conversations and surfing the web are similarly associated with distraction.
But whether the most digitally active people are more distracted because their excessive online activity makes them jittery or hyperactive, or whether it is the other way around -that they are more drawn to these activities because they naturally have short "attentional control" is unclear at this stage, he says.
(Source: Tom Bawden, THE INDEPENDENT)
Whether sitting on a train or having din ner at a restaurant, many people find it hard to stop fiddling with their mobile phones -firing off a never-ending stream of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter posts. If this online hyperactivity looks exhausting, it's no surprise to discover that these high-frequency internet users find it much more difficult to pay attention to what's going on around them than the rest of us -even when they are not consumed by the web.
New research finds that the most frequent mobile phone and internet users are the most likely to be distracted, for example by being prone to missing important appointments and daydreaming while having a conversation. In the first study of its kind, an academic from Leicester's De Montfort University has found that the more times a person uses the internet or their mobile phone, the more likely they are to experience "cognitive failures". These include a whole range of blunders, and a general lack of awareness of a person's surroundings that stretches as far as people forgetting why they have just gone from one part of the house to the other says Dr Lee Hadlington, author of the research. The study draws the same conclusions among users of mobile phones without internet access as with it - suggesting that mobile phone conversations and surfing the web are similarly associated with distraction.
But whether the most digitally active people are more distracted because their excessive online activity makes them jittery or hyperactive, or whether it is the other way around -that they are more drawn to these activities because they naturally have short "attentional control" is unclear at this stage, he says.
(Source: Tom Bawden, THE INDEPENDENT)
Couple finds naked man sleeping in bed
An Australian couple woke up in the middle of the night and found a naked stranger sleeping beside them. Katie and Chris found the intruder, identified as a 25-year-old Irishman, in their home in Sydney, Australia, around 2 am on August 17, 2015.
The man tried to flee, but the couple managed to trap him in their home until police arrived.
"Chris is on one side, I'm in the middle and then our stranger on the end right in with us," Katie said, adding, "I could feel heat, the sense someone was there. That's kind of the scary part, how long he may have been looking at us, thinking it's a good idea to get into bed with these guys."
The man tried to flee, but the couple managed to trap him in their home until police arrived.
"Chris is on one side, I'm in the middle and then our stranger on the end right in with us," Katie said, adding, "I could feel heat, the sense someone was there. That's kind of the scary part, how long he may have been looking at us, thinking it's a good idea to get into bed with these guys."
Hackers expose millions on adultery site
Hackers on August 19, 2015 posted personal details of millions of those registered with cheating website Ashley Madison, which claims to be the internet's leading facilitator of extramarital liaisons.
A message posted by the hackers accused Ashley Madison's owners of deceit and incompetence and said the company had refused to bow to their demands to close the site. Its owner, Toronto-based Avid Life Media Inc., said it was investigating the claim, with US and Canadian law enforcement agencies also involved in the probe. TrustedSec chief executive Dave Kennedy said the information included full names, passwords, street addresses, credit card information and "an extensive amount of internal data". Errata security chief executive Rob Graham said the information such as the user's height, weight and GPS coordinates were also leaked and that men outnumbered women on the service five-to-one.
"Unless this information becomes easily accessible and searchable, it is unlikely that anyone but the most paranoid or suspecting spouses will bother to seek out this information," New York divorce attorney Michael DiFalco said.
French leak monitoring firm CybelAngel said there were 1,200 email addresses in the data dump with the .sa suffix, suggesting users were connected to Saudi Arabia, where adultery is punishable by death. It also counted some 15,000 .gov or .mil addresses , suggesting that American sol diers, sailors and government employees had opened themselves up to possible blackmail.Using a government email to register for an adultery website may seem foolish, but CybelAngel vice-president of operations Damien Damuseau said it keeps the messages out of personal accounts "where their partner might see them."
The hackers' motives aren't entirely clear, although they have accused the firm of creating fake female profiles and of keeping users' information on file even after they paid to have it deleted. Avid Life Media accused the hackers of seeking to impose "a personal notion of virtue on all of society."
(Source: AP, London)
A message posted by the hackers accused Ashley Madison's owners of deceit and incompetence and said the company had refused to bow to their demands to close the site. Its owner, Toronto-based Avid Life Media Inc., said it was investigating the claim, with US and Canadian law enforcement agencies also involved in the probe. TrustedSec chief executive Dave Kennedy said the information included full names, passwords, street addresses, credit card information and "an extensive amount of internal data". Errata security chief executive Rob Graham said the information such as the user's height, weight and GPS coordinates were also leaked and that men outnumbered women on the service five-to-one.
"Unless this information becomes easily accessible and searchable, it is unlikely that anyone but the most paranoid or suspecting spouses will bother to seek out this information," New York divorce attorney Michael DiFalco said.
French leak monitoring firm CybelAngel said there were 1,200 email addresses in the data dump with the .sa suffix, suggesting users were connected to Saudi Arabia, where adultery is punishable by death. It also counted some 15,000 .gov or .mil addresses , suggesting that American sol diers, sailors and government employees had opened themselves up to possible blackmail.Using a government email to register for an adultery website may seem foolish, but CybelAngel vice-president of operations Damien Damuseau said it keeps the messages out of personal accounts "where their partner might see them."
The hackers' motives aren't entirely clear, although they have accused the firm of creating fake female profiles and of keeping users' information on file even after they paid to have it deleted. Avid Life Media accused the hackers of seeking to impose "a personal notion of virtue on all of society."
(Source: AP, London)
Wednesday 19 August 2015
Now, her own Viagra - US drug regulator okays pill of desire
Women across the world who have low libido could soon have a glow on their face if they take a shine to flibanserin, erroneously dubbed the `female Viagra', which the US Food and Drug Administration approved on Tuesday to critical reviews and universal interest.
While Viagra treats men with erectile dysfunction, flibanserin is aimed at combating female sexual interest arousal disorder which affects women with low libido. Unlike Viagra and allied erectile dysfunction drugs which simply increase blood flow to the penis, flibanserin works on the brain, targeting neurotransmitters affecting sexual desire. Originally developed as an antidepressant, it is to be taken daily to be effective.
Sprout Pharmaceuticals, which won the FDA approval after two previous rejections for a pill it will market under the brand name Addyi, said in a press release the drug corrects “an imbalance of levels of these neurotransmitters by increasing dopamine and norepinephrine (both responsible for sexual excitement) and decreasing serotonin (responsible for sexual inhibition)“. The approval is not with out controversy: opponents range from closet Talibanist conservatives to those who insist that the drug has not been proven safe for long term-use, its efficacy has not been fully established and there are too many side-effects.
Sprout itself germinated controversy by backing a campaign called `Even the Score', aimed at pressuring the FDA to approve the drug, arguing that while there are several approved treatments for male sexual dysfunction, pervasive gender bias had foiled treatment for women.
After a hearing in June, an FDA panel voted 18-6 in favour of putting flibanserin on the market but emphasized that the drug manufacturer would be required to include safety warnings when the drug is marketed.Side-effects cited include dizziness, nausea, fatigue, somnolence and insomnia. Both the drug company and marketing executives maintain that Addyi or flibanserin is not the female equivalent of Viagra nor is it designed to address a slump in the female sex life; it is a medical treatment for women suffering from a real disorder.
The big question now is how many people will use Addyi? According to one survey , about 10% of women suffer from hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD).
The FDA said the drug was approved for women whose loss of sexual desire causes marked distress or interpersonal difficulty and is not the result of illness, relationship problems or side effects of other medicines.
Dr Lauren Streicher, associate professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology at North western University , said she sensed great interest for a drug like Addyi among her patients.She said the drug's availability would encourage many women to talk to doctors about their sexual problems for the first time.
The news sent shares of Pa latin Technologies, which is creating a rival drug for HSDD, up about 30% to $1.21.
Palatin's experimental treatment called bremelanotide is now in late-stage trials and works differently from Addyi. It attempts to activate certain brain pathways.
Palatin Technologies in a statement said its drug, if approved, would only be taken as needed, not on a daily basis like Addyi, thereby providing women "greater control and flexibility in their treatment."
While Viagra treats men with erectile dysfunction, flibanserin is aimed at combating female sexual interest arousal disorder which affects women with low libido. Unlike Viagra and allied erectile dysfunction drugs which simply increase blood flow to the penis, flibanserin works on the brain, targeting neurotransmitters affecting sexual desire. Originally developed as an antidepressant, it is to be taken daily to be effective.
Sprout Pharmaceuticals, which won the FDA approval after two previous rejections for a pill it will market under the brand name Addyi, said in a press release the drug corrects “an imbalance of levels of these neurotransmitters by increasing dopamine and norepinephrine (both responsible for sexual excitement) and decreasing serotonin (responsible for sexual inhibition)“. The approval is not with out controversy: opponents range from closet Talibanist conservatives to those who insist that the drug has not been proven safe for long term-use, its efficacy has not been fully established and there are too many side-effects.
Sprout itself germinated controversy by backing a campaign called `Even the Score', aimed at pressuring the FDA to approve the drug, arguing that while there are several approved treatments for male sexual dysfunction, pervasive gender bias had foiled treatment for women.
After a hearing in June, an FDA panel voted 18-6 in favour of putting flibanserin on the market but emphasized that the drug manufacturer would be required to include safety warnings when the drug is marketed.Side-effects cited include dizziness, nausea, fatigue, somnolence and insomnia. Both the drug company and marketing executives maintain that Addyi or flibanserin is not the female equivalent of Viagra nor is it designed to address a slump in the female sex life; it is a medical treatment for women suffering from a real disorder.
The big question now is how many people will use Addyi? According to one survey , about 10% of women suffer from hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD).
The FDA said the drug was approved for women whose loss of sexual desire causes marked distress or interpersonal difficulty and is not the result of illness, relationship problems or side effects of other medicines.
Dr Lauren Streicher, associate professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology at North western University , said she sensed great interest for a drug like Addyi among her patients.She said the drug's availability would encourage many women to talk to doctors about their sexual problems for the first time.
The news sent shares of Pa latin Technologies, which is creating a rival drug for HSDD, up about 30% to $1.21.
Palatin's experimental treatment called bremelanotide is now in late-stage trials and works differently from Addyi. It attempts to activate certain brain pathways.
Palatin Technologies in a statement said its drug, if approved, would only be taken as needed, not on a daily basis like Addyi, thereby providing women "greater control and flexibility in their treatment."
Wednesday 12 August 2015
Parents forget 3-yr-old on road, drive 150km
In a bizarre incident, a family heading for a holiday in southern France forgot their three-year-old daughter at a motorway picnic area and drove 150 km before realizing their absent-mindedness.
The girl was abandoned on a Sunday in early August 2015 at the Bras de Zil reststop south of Valence. The family realized their mistake only because of an alert broadcast on the radio. By the time another family had found her, the girl's parents were already well on their way. The girl told officers she was on her way to the beach and had a brother and sister.
The girl was abandoned on a Sunday in early August 2015 at the Bras de Zil reststop south of Valence. The family realized their mistake only because of an alert broadcast on the radio. By the time another family had found her, the girl's parents were already well on their way. The girl told officers she was on her way to the beach and had a brother and sister.
Scientists discover secret to live beyond 100
Scientists have cracked the secret of why some people live a healthy and physically independent life over the age of 100: long telemores and low inflammation.
For the first time, a team of experts from Newcastle University's Institute for Ageing and Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, explored which biological and pathological processes may be the most important for successful ageing after 100 years of age.
They identified that to live past the age of 100 you must keep inflammation down in the body and telomeres long - which are part of human cells that affect how our cells age. Severe inflammation is part of many diseases in the old, such as diabetes or diseases attacking the bones or the body's joints, and chronic inflammation can develop from any of them.
“Centenarians and supercentenarians are different -put simply , they age slower.They can ward off diseases for much longer than the general population,“ said professor Thomas von Zglinicki, from Newcastle University's Institute for Ageing.
(Source: PTI)
For the first time, a team of experts from Newcastle University's Institute for Ageing and Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, explored which biological and pathological processes may be the most important for successful ageing after 100 years of age.
They identified that to live past the age of 100 you must keep inflammation down in the body and telomeres long - which are part of human cells that affect how our cells age. Severe inflammation is part of many diseases in the old, such as diabetes or diseases attacking the bones or the body's joints, and chronic inflammation can develop from any of them.
“Centenarians and supercentenarians are different -put simply , they age slower.They can ward off diseases for much longer than the general population,“ said professor Thomas von Zglinicki, from Newcastle University's Institute for Ageing.
(Source: PTI)
Phone nos can help hackers steal data
A simple hack could give criminals access to all of your Facebook data just by guessing your mobile number. Reza Moaiandin, technical director at Salt Agency, has found that using a computer to automatically put in numbers can let people scrape a huge amount of data on Facebook users. By gathering up an entire country's possible combinations and putting them through the search box, hackers can pick up all Facebook user IDs of all those using the numbers.
`Lol' is dead, `haha' is the new way to laugh, says FB
Nobody lols any more, they haha and heheinstead. Facebook has completed a thorough check of all the ways that people laugh on the internet, and has ruled the “lol“ dead. A range of different laughs have taken its place, varying greatly depending on age, gender and location.
The site took the posts of its users and organised them into four different forms: “haha“, “hehe“, “lol“ and “emoji“. Those four groups included a wide range of different laughs -so “haha“ includes “hahaha“, for instance. The site found that 51.4% of the people who laughed use “haha“. Emoji was the second biggest way of communicating a laugh, at 33.7%; “hehe“ represented 13.1%; and 1.9% said “lol“.
The Facebook study followed an article in The New Yorker about the various ways that people laugh on the internet.
Facebook's findings showed that “haha“ was still the most popular way of laughing across all groups.Emoji was more popular among young people, and lol was bigger among older Facebook users.
(Source: The Independent)
The site took the posts of its users and organised them into four different forms: “haha“, “hehe“, “lol“ and “emoji“. Those four groups included a wide range of different laughs -so “haha“ includes “hahaha“, for instance. The site found that 51.4% of the people who laughed use “haha“. Emoji was the second biggest way of communicating a laugh, at 33.7%; “hehe“ represented 13.1%; and 1.9% said “lol“.
The Facebook study followed an article in The New Yorker about the various ways that people laugh on the internet.
Facebook's findings showed that “haha“ was still the most popular way of laughing across all groups.Emoji was more popular among young people, and lol was bigger among older Facebook users.
(Source: The Independent)
Tuesday 4 August 2015
Most successful HBS passouts - Walter Haas, Jr (1939)
(Source: New York Times)
Walter Haas, Jr., class of 1939, succeeded his father as the CEO of Levi Strauss & Co. He grew Levi's from a regional California brand to one of the world's biggest apparel companies.
(Compiled by Marketingpundit.com)
Most successful HBS passouts - Matt Salzberg (2010)
(Source: Linkedin)
Matt Salzberg graduated from Harvard Business School in 2010. He is the founder and CEO of Blue Apron, the New York-based meal planning and delivery service that was recently valued at $2 billion.
(Compiled by Marketingpundit.com)
Most successful HBS passouts - Michael Bloomberg (1966)
(Source: Forbes)
Michael Bloomberg received his MBA in 1966 and went on to found financial data company Bloomberg LP in 1981 before serving three terms as the mayor of New York City. An active philanthropist, Bloomberg has given more than $3.8 billion to good causes.
(Compiled by Marketingpundit.com)
Most successful HBS passouts - Mark Pincus (1993)
(Source: Business Insider)
Mark Pincus, MBA graduate of 1993, is the cofounder of social media gaming company Zynga. He recently returned as the company's CEO and today he's worth around $1.11 billion.
(Compiled by Marketingpundit.com)
Most successful HBS passouts - Mitt Romney (1974)
(Source: Associated Press)
After getting his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1974, Mitt Romney had a long career with Bain Consulting. He was elected governor of Massachusetts in 2002 and has since been a never-say-die presidential candidate.
(Compiled by Marketingpundit.com)
Most successful Harvard Business School passouts - Ann Moore (1978)
(Source: Forbes)
Ann Moore earned her MBA in 1978 and went on to the top of the publishing industry, becoming the first female CEO of Time, Inc. in 2002. She is now running The Curator Gallery, a fine art gallery in New York City.
(Compiled by Marketingpundit.com)
Thursday 26 February 2015
Woman to sue herself for negligence that killed husband
A woman in the US state of Utah has got approval from a court to sue herself for alleged negligence in a 2011 accident that killed her spouse. The Utah court of appeals ruled that Barbara Bagley could indeed begin legal proceedings against herself. Bagley wants to charge herself with negligence in a December 2011 car accident that killed her husband. She was driving the vehicle in the Nevada desert when she hit a sagebrush and flipped the car. Her husband was thrown out and later died from his injuries.
Winston Churchill's blood sample to be auctioned
A vial containing a few drops of blood from former UK PM Winston Churchill could fetch an estimated £600 at an auction.
The sample which was taken in 1962 when 87-year-old Churchill was recovering from a broken hip will go under the hammer at Duke's auction house in March 2015 in Dorset.
The sample which was taken in 1962 when 87-year-old Churchill was recovering from a broken hip will go under the hammer at Duke's auction house in March 2015 in Dorset.
Fireworks send tiger plunging from high-rise
A seven-month-old tiger fell to its death from a Chinese high-rise building, state media reported on 24th February 2015, apparently frightened by Lunar New Year fireworks.
A couple driving home from a New Year's dinner found the animal next to the building in Pingdu in the eastern province of Shandong and called police. Police speculated the noise probably frightened the animal, causing it to break out of its cage in an apartment before plunging to its death.
China's population of captive tigers has boomed in recent years with up to 6,000 in about 200 farms across the country.
A couple driving home from a New Year's dinner found the animal next to the building in Pingdu in the eastern province of Shandong and called police. Police speculated the noise probably frightened the animal, causing it to break out of its cage in an apartment before plunging to its death.
China's population of captive tigers has boomed in recent years with up to 6,000 in about 200 farms across the country.
Monday 23 February 2015
Woman saved from bullet by her brassiere
Ivete Medeiros, a merchant from Belem, Brazil, says she was saved by her brassiere when a stray bullet almost hit her. Medeiros heard a commotion coming from the local market, where a thief was holding a passerby at gun point. When he fired his gun, the bullet struck Medeiros' chest, but the underwire in her bra prevented it from fatally wounding her and she in fact escaped without a scratch.
"It was a deliverance from God." Medeiros told a local news channel later.
"It was a deliverance from God." Medeiros told a local news channel later.
MP runs out of Parliament, blames tight underpants
A Canadian MP, who was asked to explain why he had to leave the House of Commons, has blamed his tight pants.
Martin, who belongs to the official opposition New Democrats, bolted as members of Parliament began to rise one by one to vote.
When asked to explain, Martin said, "I can blame it on a sale that was held at the Hudson's Bay . They had a men's underwear on for half-price. I bought a bunch that was clearly too small for me, and I find it difficult to sit for any length of time".
Martin, who belongs to the official opposition New Democrats, bolted as members of Parliament began to rise one by one to vote.
When asked to explain, Martin said, "I can blame it on a sale that was held at the Hudson's Bay . They had a men's underwear on for half-price. I bought a bunch that was clearly too small for me, and I find it difficult to sit for any length of time".
Egyptian bronze cat fetches £52k at UK auction
An ancient Egyptian bronze cat that was nearly thrown in the trash has sold for a whopping 52,000 pounds at an auction in the UK.
The cat sculpture, thought to be about 2,500 years old, was found by auctioneer David Lay during a house clearance in west Cornwall.
The cat sculpture, thought to be about 2,500 years old, was found by auctioneer David Lay during a house clearance in west Cornwall.
China - Europe cargo train completes maiden run
A cargo train service between China's famous commodity hub Yiwu and Spain returned on Sunday, 22nd February 2015, after completing its maiden run on the 13,000 kms long route, one of the longest in the world, raising expectations of a surge in exports from China to the continent.
Saudi Arabia detains men for dancing at party
Local Saudi newspapers are reporting that the kingdom's morality police have detained a group of men for dancing at a birthday party. The state-linked news website Ayn al-Youm says the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice raided a private residence in the ultraconservative city of Buraydah, arresting the men inside for “loud music and inappropriate dancing“.
DNA drives data storage
We've seen storage media go from 8-inch floppy discs capable of storing 80 kilobytes of data to portable drives that now hold terabytes. But despite the vast increases in storage capacity over the last quarter century, the next step in the evolution of data management could be powered by a completely different and yet familiar medium DNA.
Just 1 gram of DNA is theoretically capable of holding 455 exabytes enough for all the data held by Google, Facebook and every other major tech company, with room to spare. It's also durable. DNA has been extracted and sequenced from 700,000-year-old horse bones, according to Jacob Aron at the New Scientist.
Swiss scientists have been experimenting with DNA storage and find that data in DNA form could last 2000 years if kept at a temperature of around 10 °C. Of course, it's still on the expensive side, but that should change if the tech takes off.
For more: newscientist.com
Just 1 gram of DNA is theoretically capable of holding 455 exabytes enough for all the data held by Google, Facebook and every other major tech company, with room to spare. It's also durable. DNA has been extracted and sequenced from 700,000-year-old horse bones, according to Jacob Aron at the New Scientist.
Swiss scientists have been experimenting with DNA storage and find that data in DNA form could last 2000 years if kept at a temperature of around 10 °C. Of course, it's still on the expensive side, but that should change if the tech takes off.
For more: newscientist.com
Wednesday 11 February 2015
Gaga's new fragrance for 'post-sex' freshness
Lady Gaga says her latest unisex fragrance is for partners after they freshen up post sex.
"I'm very proud to announce that EAU DE GAGA my latest unisex fragrance is now available at Target. It's fresh, clean, ready for sex heave!" Gaga tweeted, according to a website. "I wanted to create something my female & male fans could enjoy. Couples spray it on after a post sex shower yummy! (sic)" she wrote.
The 28-year-old singer released her first fragrance, Lady Gaga Fame, in 2012. Her latest fragrance, launched in September 2014, moves away from the more subtle tones of tiger orchid, incense, apricot, saffron and honey which were used for Lady Gaga Fame. The new one has been marketed as smelling of white violet, lime and leather.
Source: IANS
Thursday 15 January 2015
%2B-%2BHwt.jpg)
Lingerie chain in USA Ann Summers names new underwear collection 'ISIS'
Lingerie chain in USA Ann Summers names new underwear collection 'ISIS'
Iran students want actress Leila Hatami flogged for Cannes kiss
Iran students want actress Leila Hatami flogged for Cannes kiss
%2B-%2BHwt.jpg)
%2B-%2BHwt.jpg)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)