Former Drug Industry Executive Will Lead Dept. Of Health And Human Services

A former pharmaceutical industry official who says drug prices are too high will now be in charge of buying more medications than anyone in the world.

Alex Azar, former president of the U.S. arm of Eli Lilly & Co., was confirmed Wednesday as the secretary of health and human services.

In that role, he'll oversee the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates prescription drugs including those produced by his former employer. He'll also oversee Medicare and Medicaid, which together spend hundreds of billions of dollars each year on prescription medications.

He'll take over the agency at a time when rising drug prices are a huge political issue.

Azar acknowledged as much in hisconfirmation hearing in early January. He told members of the Senate Finance Committee that dealing with high drug prices would be a priority.

But Azar won't have the power to get Congress to change the law to let Medicare negotiate prices directly with manufacturers. He told senators that allowing the insurance companies that contract with Medicare is more effective.

"These are incredibly powerful negotiators who get the best rates available," he said.

Azar spent five years at Eli Lilly, which makes several blockbuster medications, including Cialis, which treats erectile dysfunction; the antidepressant Cymbalta; and several forms of insulin. Insulin prices have drawn particular fire because they keep spiraling higher, even though insulin has been around for almost a century.

The prices of Lilly's insulin drugs Humalog and Humulin, for instance, have both risen about 225 percent since 2011, according to data from the investment research firm Bernstein.

Before his stint at Eli Lilly, Azar served in HHS under President George W. Bush, so he is familiar with the sprawling agency that also includes the National Institutes of Health, the Indian Health Service and the U.S. Public Health Service.

Azar replaces Tom Price, who resignedfrom HHS in September after a Politico investigation found that he had taken private charter aircraft on work-related trips at times when cheaper commercial flights were available.

Flu Virus Can Trigger A Heart Attack

The flu doesn't just make you feel lousy. A study published Wednesday finds it can increase your risk of having a heart attack, too.

"We found that you're six times more likely to have a heart attack during the week after being diagnosed with influenza, compared to the year before or after the infection," says study authorDr. Jeff Kwong, an epidemiologist and family physician with the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and Public Health Ontario in Canada.

The results appear in this week's New England Journal of Medicine.

Doctors noticed long ago that there was a connection between seasonal flu and cardiovascular deaths, but the association has been hard to nail down. Part of the challenge is that many people with flu symptoms don't get tested for the virus. So Kwong and his colleagues decided to use test results (from flu tests and other viruses, too) and match them with hospital records.

"This is the first time we've had lab-confirmed influenza, so we're certain that these were influenza [viruses] causing the infection," Kwong says.

There's a lot happening in the body during the flu that can help explain the increased risk of a heart attack.

"There's inflammation going on, and your body is under a lot of stress," explains Kwong. Oxygen levels and blood pressure can drop. These changes "can lead to an increased risk of forming blood clots in the vessels that serve your heart."

A young person who is normally healthy is very unlikely to have a heart attack during the flu. "It's all about your baseline risk," Kwong says.

Asthma patients 'not receiving basic care'

Nearly two-thirds of people with asthma are still not receiving the basic level of care despiteclaims it could prevent two out of three asthma deaths a year, according to a survey by Asthma UK.

The study revealed a "frustrating" lack of progress in asthma care, following similar findings last year.

Donna Green's son Tiernan was one of the UK's 1,200 asthma deaths in 2017.

"As a mum who has lost a child to an asthma attack, I don't want any other parent to go through what we have."

Donna, of County Armagh, added: "I didn't realise how serious asthma was, and I found out in the most devastating way, when my boy died in my arms."

According to the survey, Northern Ireland had the best performance for basic asthma care across the UK, with 48.2% receiving basic care - and Donna maintains that Tiernan had been receiving satisfactory support for his asthma.

At his inquest, the coroner said Tiernan had an asthma review lined up with his nurse, but tragically died before he had the chance to go.

Yet Asthma UK's annual report - which surveyed 7,611 people - found that only 35% of patients with asthma in the UK are receiving the most basic level of asthma care.

Embarrassment makes women avoid smear tests, charity says

Young women are avoiding getting smear tests because they are embarrassed by the look and smell of their pubic areas, a survey suggests.

The charity Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust surveyed 2,017 British women.

A third said embarrassment caused them to delay getting a smear test, which can prevent 75% of cervical cancers.

The charity said cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women under 35, yet almost two-thirds of those surveyed weren't aware they're most at risk.

A total of 220,000 British women are diagnosed with cervical abnormalities each year.

First monkey clones created in Chinese laboratory

Two monkeys have been cloned using the technique that produced Dolly the sheep.

Identical long-tailed macaques Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua were born several weeks ago at a laboratory in China.

Scientists say populations of monkeys that are genetically identical will be useful for research into human diseases.

But critics say the work raises ethical concerns by bringing the world closer to human cloning.

Qiang Sun of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Neuroscience said the cloned monkeys will be useful as a model for studying diseases with a genetic basis, including some cancers, metabolic and immune disorders.

"There are a lot of questions about primate biology that can be studied by having this additional model," he said.

UK PM seeks 'safe and ethical' artificial intelligence

The prime minister is to say she wants the UK to lead the world in deciding how artificial intelligence can be deployed in a safe and ethical manner.

Theresa May will say at the World Economic Forum in Davos that a new advisory body,previously announced in the Autumn Budget, will co-ordinate efforts with other countries.

In addition, she will confirm that the UK will join the Davos forum's own council on artificial intelligence.

But others may have stronger claims.

Earlier this week, Google picked France as the base for a new research centre dedicated to exploring how AI can be applied to health and the environment.

Facebook's news trust survey comprises just two questions

A survey used by Facebook to determine how much prominence to give to different news publishers consists of just two brief questions.

The first asks whether a user recognises the websites displayed.

The second asks whether the user trusts them on a five-point scale ranging from "not at all" to "entirely".

Some journalists have complained that the questions over-simplify matters, but the social network has said it will combine the results with other data.

"Trust is one among many signals," the firm's head of news feed, Adam Mosseri, tweeted.

"[It] only applies for publishers for which we have enough data, so it doesn't yet [affect] most publishers.

"I understand that some people may baulk at how simple a survey is, but complicated surveys can be confusing and bias-signal, and meaningful patterns can emerge from broad surveys," he added.

Tesla and GM self-drive cars involved in road collisions

Two vehicles reportedly engaged in self-drive modes - a Tesla Model S and a General Motors Chevy Bolt - have been involved in separate road accidents in California.

Culver City's fire service said the Tesla had "ploughed into the rear" of one of its fire engines parked at the scene of an accident on Monday.

The car's owner subsequently claimed it had been in Autopilot mode at the time.

The GM incident resulted in a collision with a motorbike in San Francisco.

The rider says the car - which was using GM's Cruise Automation technology - caused him serious injury and is now suing GM, according tolocal newspaper The Mercury News.

GM has alleged the motorcyclist was at fault. The event dates back to December, but has come to light only now.

Car-makers suggest self-drive technologies should make the roads safer, but at present California requires a driver to remain behind the wheel so they can retake control at short notice.

However, the state's Department of Motor Vehicles is currently considering new regulations that would allow tests on public roads without a human sitting in the driver's seat.

The US National Transportation Board (NTSB) has said it will investigate the Tesla crash.

According to a tweet by the Culver City Firefighters, the Model S was travelling at 65mph (105km/h) when the impact occurred.

Amazingly, there were no injuries," an official said.

Tesla has the ability to analyse data gathered by its vehicles' on-board computers to determine the cause of crashes, and has shared information with the press about previous high-profile accidents.

However, for now the car company has limited itself to saying that "Autopilot is intended for use only with a fully attentive driver" and that it has instructed drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel while employing it.

DJI Unveils Mavic Air "Ultraportable" Drone

DJI has unveiled the Mavic Air drone, a successor to its top-selling Mavic Pro that is smaller, lighter and faster as well as promising more advanced obstacle-avoidance tech.

There are, however, trade-offs: it has a shorter flight time and cannot travel as far from its operator.

DJI is the top-selling consumer drone-maker and recently saw a major rival, GoPro, drop out of the market.

Despite the advances, the Air will be sold for a lower price than the Pro.

It will be released on 28 January for $799 in the US and £769 in the UK.

That is $200/£330 less than the Pro's base model, which remains on sale.

Facebook - Inventor Of "Flick", A New Unit Of Time

A Facebook engineer has invented a new unit of time called a flick.

The flick has been designed to help developers keep video effects in sync, according to a description on the code-sharing site GitHub.

A flick, derived from "frame-tick", is 1/705,600,000 of a second - the next unit of time after a nanosecond.

A researcher at Oxford University said the flick wouldn't have much general impact but may help create better virtual reality experiences.

Flicks are defined in the programming language C++, which is used to generate visual effects for film, television and other media.

E-Cigarettes Likely Encourage Kids To Try Tobacco But May Help Adults Quit

Kids who vape and use other forms of e-cigarettes are likely to try more harmful tobacco products like regular cigarettes, but e-cigarettes do hold some promise for helping adults quit.

That's according to the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, which published a comprehensive public health review of more than 800 studies on e-cigarettes on Tuesday.

"There is conclusive evidence that most products emit a variety of potentially toxic substances. However the number and intensity is highly variable," saysDavid Eaton, who heads the committee that wrote the report. He is also the dean and vice provost of the graduate school of the University of Washington, Seattle.

"In some circumstances, such as their use by nonsmoking adolescents and young adults, their adverse effects clearly warrant concern. In other cases, such as when adult smokers use them to quit smoking, they offer an opportunity to reduce smoking-related illness."

Carrot

Carrot can be used in the treatment of the following:

1. Eliminate intestinal parasites: When carrot is taken over an empty stomach in the morning, it eliminates thread worms and pinworms due to the essential oil it contains.

2. Carrot purifies the blood: It is rich in alkaline element which purifies and revitalizes the blood. It eliminates metabolic acid residue.

3. Prevent cancer development: The vitamin A content has a resistance against cancer development. A recent research has proved that early stage of cancer formation can be cured with carrot juice.

4. Prevents tooth decay. Consumption of carrot after food kills all the harmful germs in the mouth and thus prevents tooth decay. It also enhances tooth growth in children when they are given the juice.

5. External application heals wounds and skin diseases such as eczema, bums, wrinkles, etc. It can be used as poultices. Grind the carrot, put it in a dry piece of cloth and place it on a dry heat, then apply to the affected area.

6. Corrects vision disorder: Carrot contains carotene (vitamin A) which is good in the treatment of vision disorder. It works under abundant consumption of carrot.

Crypto-cash boom prompts graphics card rationing

Booming interest in crypto-currencies has been blamed for pushing up the prices of graphics cards.

The cards are popular because they speed up the process of minting or "mining" crypto-coins.

Keen miners are buying graphics cards in large quantities and running them in parallel to boost their coin-producing efforts.

Their actions have led some makers and sellers of graphics cards to limit how many people can buy at any time.

Writing on PC Gamer, Jarred Walton said : "Right now is the worst time in the history of graphics cards to buy or upgrade this all-important gaming component."

Many websites that cover the PC and computer component industry are reporting that top-end video cards are selling for far more than the price seen on a manufacturer's site.

For instance, Nvidia's GTX 1080 Ti is priced at £679 on the firm's store but the same card costs more than £900 on almost every well-known electronic retailer's site - though on one, the price is closer to £2,000. It is being offered for similar prices by smaller stores and auction sites.

Surging demand has also meant that many stores have sold out of the best-performing cards.

In response to the high demand, Nvidia has asked firms that sell its hardware to try to vet buyers so cards end up in the hands of gamers rather than crypto-coin enthusiasts, German tech news Codebase.de has reported.

"For Nvidia, gamers come first," said a statement given to the news site.
As well as issuing these instructions Nvidia has put a limit on the number of video cards people can buy from its store.

Retailers Scan, Overclockers and Ebuyer have followed suit and, for many Nvidia and AMD cards, will only let people buy one at a time.

"The crypto-currency boom has had a dramatic effect on the cost and supply of some PC gaming graphics cards," said Ben Hardwidge, editor of magazine Custom PC, which gives advice on building computers from scratch and upgrading hardware.

"The retailers I've spoken to about this issue describe it as unprecedented," Mr Hardwidge told the BBC. "It's usually not individuals buying up the cards, but organised firms buying bulk loads of cards to set up a graphics processing farm."

He said the effect had been seen across many different cards, and rising prices across the board meant relatively low-powered components now commanded premium prices.

Really powerful cards tended to use a lot of power, he said, which might mean less room for the profits miners hope to make as they mint and trade coins.

"It's often the mid-range graphics cards that offer the best bang-per-buck for currency mining," he said. "That's where we've really seen the effects of the crypto-currency boom hit the hardest."

New Zealand Government Sued For Damages By Kim Dotcom

Kim Dotcom, the founder of file-sharing site Megaupload, is suing the New Zealand government for billions of dollars in damages over his arrest in 2012.

The internet entrepreneur is fighting extradition to the US to stand trial for copyright infringement and fraud.

Mr Dotcom says an invalid arrest warrant negated all charges against him.

He is seeking damages for destruction to his business and loss of reputation.

Accountants calculate that the Megaupload group of companies would be worth $10bn (£7.2bn) today, had it not been shut down during the raid.

As he was a 68% shareholder in the business, Mr Dotcom has asked for damages going up to $6.8bn. He is also considering taking similar action against the Hong Kong government.

Microsoft's Xbox One X hits India Today

Microsoft's Xbox One X will be available in one of the biggest markets in the world on Tuesday, but it will be a question of whether the console will be able to do well in a market where its rival Sony PlayStationreigns supreme.

It doesn't help that the price, at 44,990 Indian Rupees ($705), isn't exactly cheap, especially in a country where the reported per capita income in 2016 was $1,670, though there's probably a richer middle class in the bigger cities that could afford the console.

"For gaming at Microsoft, the console business is one part of that," Jeremy Hinton, Xbox Business Lead at Microsoft Asia, said in an interview with CNET.

"More and more, it's gaming with Windows, and every game we launch now is available on Windows and Xbox. So it's all about what best aligns to consumers in the market."

That being said, Hinton added that those who were interested in the console experience would invest in it, and that the console gamer in Asia typically spends quite a bit, north of $200 a year. 

Cabbage

Cabbage contains 2% protein, 5% carbohydrate, fiber, fat, phosphorus, manganese, iron, potassium, zinc, vitamin A&B. Cabbage can be used in the treatment of the following:

1. Treats gastro-duodenal ulcer: This type of ulcer will respond almost miraculously to the drinking of cabbage juice, 200-250ml four or five times daily for two weeks.

2. Cabbage juice taken over empty stomach for five days consecutive can expel intestinal parasites.

3. Cabbage contains several elements and factors which arrest premature aging.

4. Treatment of heart disease and hypertension: Cabbage A, C, & E which contribute to the regeneration of the arterial walls.

5. Cabbage can be used to treat constipation, it contains fiber which is essential for stimulating proper bowel function.

Fact About Banana

Banana is a good in the treatment of Anemia. It contains high content of iron which stimulates the product of hemoglobin in the blood.

Banana is good for stress control. The potassium content in banana helps to normalize the heart beat regulates body water balance, which in turn control stress.

Corrects intestinal disorders. Like in the case of ulcer, it neutralizes the excess acidity of gastric juice produced in the stomach, thereby reducing the effect of the ulcer.

Good for treating diarrhea and constipation: The fiber content enhances proper bowel movement which makes it valuable in the diet of those suffering from constipation.

Good for pregnancy and lactation: It contain high protein content which is good for this group, also rich in foliate, which prevents fetal nervous system malformation.

Good for treating arthritis and gout: Banana alkalizes the blood which eliminates the excess uric acid which can cause gout and arthritis.