Current Events in January 2019

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is supporting over-the-counter access for the opioid overdose medication naloxone.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement on Thursday that the agency has developed and tested two Drug Facts Labels (DFLs) to support development of nasal spray and injectable OTC naloxone products.

“We proactively designed, tested, and validated the key labeling requirements necessary to approve an OTC version of naloxone and make it available to patients,” he said. “One of the key components for OTC availability is now in place. In short, we’ve crafted model labeling that sponsors can use to obtain approval for OTC naloxone and increase its access.”

Increased availability

More than 72,000 people died of opioid overdose deaths in 2017, according to the CDC. A recent report found that Americans are now more likely to die from accidental opioid overdoses than car crashes.

Giving drugmakers the ability to produce over-the-counter versions of the opioid overdose drug is part of the FDA’s plan to make the drug less difficult to buy.

“Naloxone is a critical drug to help reduce opioid overdose deaths,” Gottlieb said. “Prevention and treatment of opioid overdose is an urgent priority. Increased availability of naloxone for emergency treatment of overdoses is an important step.”

Consumer-friendly labels

Naloxone sales doubled between 2013 and 2017 -- from about 2.5 million units to about five million units. Although most states allow naloxone to be dispensed without a prescription, not all pharmacists offer the option.

The FDA is currently trying to lower the cost of Naloxone and increase its availability by creating labels the industry can use as a template for over-the-counter versions that can be sold at pharmacies without a prescription.

“Overall, the study demonstrated that the model DFL was well-understood by consumers and is acceptable for use by manufacturers in support of their OTC naloxone development programs. Using this information, naloxone manufacturers can now focus their efforts on final label comprehension testing of how well consumers understand the product-specific information that hasn’t been already tested in the model DFL,” Gottlieb said.

The American Data Dissemination (ADD) Act -- legislation intended to create a law that “protects both consumers and the innovative capabilities of the internet economy” -- was introduced by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) on Wednesday.

“Your data is incredibly valuable, and for the most part, it is not even yours. But use of your personal data is governed by antiquated laws that do not work in the modern economy.  The time has come for Congress to address consumer data privacy in a candid, responsible and modern manner,” wrote Rubio in an op-ed piece for TheHill.

The bill rides on the back of the Privacy Act of 1974, a law designed to balance the government’s need to keep records about citizens with the rights of those citizens to be guarded against unnecessary violation of their data privacy -- in other words, back in the day when our computers were typewriters and our personal data was probably kept in a manila folder on some government worker’s desk.

Fast forward 45 years to the present when a consumer’s data is not only for sale, but a target of foreign countries. In Rubio’s perfect world, ADD would give consumers shelter from indefensible intrusions from “sophisticated actors in the private industry.”

“There has been a growing consensus that Congress must take action to address consumer data privacy,” Rubio said. “However, I believe that any efforts to address consumer privacy must also balance the need to protect the innovative capabilities of the digital economy that have enabled new entrants and small businesses to succeed in the marketplace.”

“It is critical that we do not create a regulatory environment that entrenches big tech corporations. Congress must act, but it is even more important that Congress act responsibly to create a transparent, digital environment that maximizes consumer welfare over corporate welfare.”

But don’t we already have a privacy law?

There are 11 states that do have their own consumer privacy laws, including Illinois and California. However, there’s nothing from sea to shining sea that regulates the collection and use of personal data.

The goal of ADD is to provide straightforward protections that consumers can understand and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can enforce.

To accomplish that goal, the bill does the following:  

• No later than 180 days after enactment of the ADD Act, the FTC will have to submit detailed recommendations for privacy requirements that Congress, in turn, can impose on covered providers.  

• No earlier than a year-and-a-half after the bill’s enactment, the FTC will publish and submit to the appropriate committees of Congress proposed regulations to impose privacy requirements on covered providers.

It’s a new day

The United States lags far behind Europe in protecting personal data. The European Union’s GDPR -- General Data Protection Regulation -- already gives control to individuals over their personal data and simplifies the regulatory environment for international business by unifying the regulation within the EU.

“Our country is ready for reforms to our national privacy law designed for the privacy challenges of today and tomorrow,” Rubio said.

“Changes that provide consumers with basic rights and increased transparency, but also ensures small businesses can continue to thrive. Tech industry leaders should encourage responsible legislation that provides clear rules for companies to operate under and prevents future scandals. While we may not have a consensus in Congress, we must begin to offer solutions. Because this is the only way we can regain the public’s trust.”

Federal prosecutors are reportedly getting ready to levy criminal charges against Huawei, the world's biggest maker of telecommunications equipment, for allegedly stealing trade secrets from American companies, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Unnamed sources told the Journal that the criminal probe stems from several civil lawsuits filed against Huawei, including one involving a robotic device called “Tappy” made by T-Mobile. The device was used for testing smartphones.

T-Mobile said in the 2014 complaint that Huawei stole its robotic trade secrets after Huawei “abused its relationship as a phone handset supplier for T-Mobile to obtain access to T-Mobile’s robot and, in violation of several confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements, copied the robot’s specifications and stole parts, software and other trade secrets.”

The Journal said that the criminal investigation is at an "advanced stage” and an indictment is expected soon.

Security concerns

Huawei has a history of being accused of being a national security threat to Western countries.

In 2012, Congress’ Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence warned that consumers have a  “growing dependence” on a small group of equipment providers and China has the means and motive to use telecommunications companies for malicious purposes.

"We're deeply concerned about the risks of allowing any company or entity that is beholden to foreign governments that don't share our values to gain positions of power inside our telecommunications networks," FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2012.

On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation that would ban that sale of U.S. parts to any Chinese telecom company that has violated U.S. export control laws or sanctions.

"Huawei is effectively an intelligence-gathering arm of the Chinese Communist Party whose founder and CEO was an engineer for the People's Liberation Army," Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas said in a statement. "It's imperative we take decisive action to protect US interests and enforce our laws.”

The government shutdown has not affected the operations of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, although the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) apparently wishes it would.

The FCC has filed a motion with the court seeking a delay in oral arguments in a case that could potentially restore net neutrality. Oral arguments in a case, brought by a number of industry groups, are scheduled for February 1.

The plaintiffs are seeking to reverse the FCC’s action in overturning Obama administration rules that codified net neutrality, meaning ISPs must treat all internet traffic the same. While the government shutdown has not affected the court’s operations, it has impacted the FCC.

“Due to the recent lapse in funding for the FCC and the relevant component of the Department of Justice, the Commission believes that, in an abundance of caution, it should move for an extension to ensure that attorneys may fully prepare for argument," FCC attorneys said in a motion.

The FCC said the Justice Department has advised federal agencies to request delays in active civil cases until government funding has been restored. The FCC asked the court to rule quickly on its motion so that FCC attorneys can adequately prepare if oral arguments take place as scheduled.

Plaintiffs oppose any delay

One of the industry groups suing to restore net neutrality is also opposing the FCC’s bid to postpone the proceedings. The group INCOMPAS filed a counter motion saying the issue is too important to delay.

“The repeal of the rules also threatens edge providers, as they are facing the risk of blocking, throttling, and other practices by ISPs,” the group said in its motion.

INCOMPAS represents streaming companies, edge providers and broadband network builders who say they will be harmed by the end of net neutrality. The group points out there is legal precedent during previous government shutdowns for moving forward with scheduled court actions. A delay, the group contends, holds risks to consumers and the streaming revolution.

“Over 80 percent of Americans oppose the FCC action to end strong net neutrality policies that gave rise to the streaming revolution and brought stronger open internet freedoms,” the group said in a statement. It’s time for net neutrality to have its day in court, so consumers, streamers and internet dreamers can have the threat of ISP gatekeeper fees, paid prioritization and blocking behavior removed from the equation.”

In a Time magazine op-ed published on Wednesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook called on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to form a “data-broker clearinghouse” that would enable consumers to “delete their data on demand, freely, easily and online, once and for all.”

Cook previously expressed concern over the issue of data privacy at a conference in Brussels last October. During an impassioned speech, Cook said consumers’ personal information is being “weaponized against us with military efficiency.”

Now, Cook said he and others are calling on Congress to pass “comprehensive federal privacy legislation” that gives consumers full control over the data companies hold on them.

“We believe the Federal Trade Commission should establish a data-broker clearinghouse, requiring all data brokers to register, enabling consumers to track the transactions that have bundled and sold their data from place to place, and giving users the power to delete their data on demand, freely, easily and online, once and for all,” Cook wrote.

“Technology has the potential to keep changing the world for the better, but it will never achieve that potential without the full faith and confidence of the people who use it,” he added.

Calling for greater user privacy

Cook’s growing concern over the issue of data privacy follows a string of major data breaches in the tech industry, such as Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica data sharing scandal. The social media giant was ultimately found to have allowed the consultancy firm to gain access to the information of 87 million users.

The scandal, and others like it, sparked concern over the way social media companies are handling user data.

“Consumers shouldn’t have to tolerate another year of companies irresponsibly amassing huge user profiles, data breaches that seem out of control and the vanishing ability to control our own digital lives,” writes Cook. “This problem is solvable — it isn’t too big, too challenging or too late.”

The publication of Cook’s op-ed happened on the same day that Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced legislation intended to create a law that “protects both consumers and the innovative capabilities of the internet economy.”

“The time has come for Congress to address consumer data privacy in a candid, responsible and modern manner,” Rubio wrote in an op-ed for The Hill.

With the start of the new year, many consumers take the time to rededicate themselves to following a health diet. However well-intentioned these plans are, there’s always the temptation to swap a salad for a cheeseburger.

To help combat fattening food cravings, researchers from the University of South Florida recently conducted a study that found that surrounding yourself with the smells of fattening foods for at least two minutes is a great way for consumers to steer clear of the extra calories.

“Ambient scent can be a powerful tool to resist cravings for indulgent foods,” said lead researcher Dipayan Biswas, PhD. “In fact, subtle sensory stimuli like scents can be more effective in influencing children’s and adults’ food choices than restrictive policies.”

Every minute counts

Biswas and his team set out to discover how scent would effectively curb cravings, and they learned that the amount of time consumers are exposed to the smells is what matters most.

The researchers conducted the first part of their experiment in a middle school cafeteria, where they injected scents of either pizza or apples through nebulizers that couldn’t be directly seen. The scents were filtered on alternating days, and the researchers took note of the students’ subsequent purchasing options depending on what scent was in the air.

On days when the apple scent permeated the cafeteria, students were more likely to purchase unhealthy food and drinks, whereas on days when they smelled the pizza, they made healthier lunch choices.

The researchers then replicated the study in a lab setting, switching the scents to filter either cookies or strawberries. After participants were exposed to the smells, they were asked which food they’d prefer: cookies or strawberries.

Similar to their cafeteria test, the smell of the cookies helped participants make healthier choices, and the time they spent surrounded by the smell of the cookies mattered.

When participants had inhaled the cookie smell for two minutes or more, they were more likely to make healthier choices. When they spent less than 30 seconds with the cookie scent, they were more likely to choose the cookie. The researchers believe this works because the scent is tricking the brain into being satisfied by the food without the participants ever having to consume it.

Fighting cravings

Biswas and his team join several other researchers of late who have looked into the best ways for consumers to fight their food cravings.

A study at the end of last year looked at nearly 30 scientific studies to produce a comprehensive list of effective ways to kick cravings.

Researchers found that losing weight can decrease cravings, while frequent exercise can increase cravings. Moreover, cutting out foods from your diet was found to work better than portion control, while certain prescription drugs were also found to help fight cravings.

Additionally, a separate study found that withdrawal from junk food is similar to what addicts experience when they stop using drugs.

For those whose diets consisted primarily of junk food, the symptoms were particularly strong, and many reported feeling fatigued, sad, and irritable. However, if consumers can get past the first five days, the symptoms reportedly decreased.

If you take a vitamin supplement, stop and ask yourself if you really need it. Chances are you don’t.

When the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) hired The Harris Poll to survey consumers, researchers found that more than four out of five people take vitamins or a dietary supplement. However, the organization says just 24 percent of those consumers have a nutritional deficiency.

Dr. Mike Vardshavski, an osteopathic family physician, says most people don’t have a health condition that requires them to take vitamins. Those people, he says, are wasting money and could even be harming their health.

"Numerous investigations show the alleged benefits are unproven and in the worst cases, vitamins and supplements can be harmful," Varshavski said. "In particular, I advise patients that this industry is highly unregulated, so it's important to research manufacturers to ensure their products actually contain the nutritional supplements advertised."

Independent analysis

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has responsibility for regulating supplements, but it uses a different set of rules than used for drug regulation. Dr. Tod Cooperman, founder of an independent testing lab called ConsumerLab, addressed a recent NIH symposium and outlined the results of the latest supplement analysis.

“One out of every five supplements we tested has been found to be of poor quality,” Cooperman said. “Herbals had the highest failure rate at 39 percent. Twenty percent of vitamins and minerals also failed.”

The survey asked consumers how they decided which vitamins or supplements to take. Just over half said they got a recommendation from a doctor, which would seem to be the safest source. Thirty-nine percent said they did their own research and 22 percent said they got advice from a friend or family member.

Be skeptical of gummy vitamins

"Obviously, there is a great need for real education on this topic, even among health care professionals," said Varshavski. "Consumers are also cautioned to avoid trends, such as vaping supplements, until the research is conclusive, and to be skeptical of gummy vitamins—which are basically sugar tablets."

The AOA has called for legislation requiring dietary supplements to undergo pre-market safety and efficacy evaluation by the FDA, just as drugs do. The organization also says the FDA should monitor all products marketed for human consumption, including nutritional supplements.

If you think you really need to take a supplement, Varshavski recommends choosing one that carries a certification or approval from a trusted, independent organization. That won’t guarantee the product will be effective, only that it contains the correct ingredients and in the correct amounts.

Children’s clothing retailer Gymboree Group has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in nearly two years.

In a late-night announcement Wednesday, the company said it planned to close 800 Gymboree and Crazy 8 stores. It also said it had retained the services of the Special Situations Investing Group, Inc. (SSIG), an affiliate of investment bank Goldman Sachs & Co.

It said SSIG will serve as the “stalking-horse bidder” in a court-supervised sale process for the company’s Janie and Jack brand.

"The company has worked diligently in recent months to explore options for Gymboree Group and its brands, and we are saddened and highly disappointed that we must move ahead with a wind-down of the Gymboree and Crazy 8 businesses,” said Shaz Kahng, CEO of Gymboree Group. “At the same time, we are focused on using this process to preserve the Janie and Jack business – a strong brand that is poised to grow – by pursuing a sale of the business as a going concern.”

Rough decade

It has been a rough decade for retailers selling products for children. Toy retailer Toys “R” Us declared bankruptcy in 2017, and last March it closed its U.S. stores. In October, the lenders who took control of the company’s assets canceled an auction, keeping alive the option that the brand might get new life in the future.

Gymboree is a 30-year-old brand and currently operates 540 Gymboree stores in the U.S. and Canada. It also owns and operates 265 Crazy 8 stores. The company says all of its stores are still open and serving customers.

Gymboree Group said it has a commitment for “debtor in possession” financing of $30 million from SSIG and Goldman Sachs. Assuming the bankruptcy court approves, the company said the funds should be enough to support operations during the liquidation process.

Gymboree joined a number of other prominent retailers that filed for bankruptcy protection in 2017, but it managed to stay in business. However, debt levels and millennial parents’ preference for online and discount channels proved too big an obstacle to overcome.

With children’s mental health diagnoses on the rise nationwide, getting the proper treatment can often be difficult, as the adults around them may not even notice a change in behavior or mood.

Researchers from the University of Vermont realize how troublesome this can be for both children and their parents. In the hopes of diagnosing and treating children as early as possible, they created a wearable sensor that can help detect any mental health struggles in young children.

“Because of the scale of the problem, this begs for a screening technology to identify kids early enough so they can be directed to the care they need,” said researcher Ryan McGinnis.

Testing the effectiveness

The researchers label both anxiety and depression as “internalizing disorders.” To try and catch them as early as possible, they developed a wearable sensor that would be able to monitor and track children’s moods and feelings.

The study included over 60 children aged three through eight and their caregivers; some of the children were confirmed to have an internalized disorder at the start of the experiment.

While the parents were required to fill out a questionnaire and be interviewed on their child’s past and current mental health concerns, the children participated in an experiment designed to elicit feelings of anxiety, while wearing the sensor to track their responses.

Researchers led the children into a dimly lit room, slowly building anticipation, and then brought the children to a covered terrarium. After removing the cover, the researchers pulled out a toy snake, that they quickly assured the children was just a toy, and encouraged them to play with it.

The sensor tracked the children’s movements throughout the whole course of the experiment, and the researchers learned that the children with anxiety responded differently than those who didn’t.

According to the study, children with anxiety were more likely to turn away from the terrarium before the researcher revealed the snake, as the anticipation was what made them most anxious.

The researchers were confident in the sensor’s abilities to detect anxiety, as they were able to get results in a much shorter time span; they believe the device can help young children from an earlier age. Additionally, the results from the sensor were over 80 percent more accurate than the responses from the parent questionnaire.

“Children with anxiety disorders need an increased level of psychological care and intervention,” said researcher Ellen McGinnis. “Our paper suggests that this instrumented mood induction task can help us identify those kids and get them to the services they need.”

Early detection is key in these cases. The researchers note that if anxiety disorders go undetected or untreated, it can cause greater concerns down the road.

“If anxiety symptoms do not get detected early in life, they might develop full-blown anxiety and mood disorder,” said researcher Maria Muzik.

How to help

Researchers suggest there are several stimuli that can contribute to feelings of anxiousness, and there are ways parents can help their children who are suffering from anxiety.

For starters, sleep -- or lack thereof -- can affect anxiety, as can smartphones and other technological devices. Giving kids the opportunity to be physically active -- whether through playing outside or exercising -- can also be beneficial to their overall mental health.

Specialized Bicycle Components Canada is recalling about 4,900 Roubaix, Ruby, Diverge, and Sirrus bicycles with with steerer tube collars.

The steerer tube collar may crack if exposed to corrosion which may cause the rider to loose control, posing fall and injury hazards.

No injuries have been reported.

The following products, manufactured in Taiwan, are being recalled:

The product names are printed on the bicycle frame.

The recalled products were sold in Canada between September 2016, and December 2018.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled products should immediately stop using them and contact an authorized retailer for a free repair of the steerer tube collars.

Consumers with questions may contact the company at (800) 465-8887 from 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. (ET) Monday through Friday or online at https://www.specialized.com/ca/en/.

Ford Motor Company is recalling about 2,700 model year 2019 Lincoln Nautilus vehicles equipped with lane-centering assist and adaptive front steering.

These vehicles may not adequately detect if a driver has his or her hands off the steering wheel.

Failure of the hands on/off detection system may not alert the driver to place his or her hands back on the steering wheel, which could increase the risk of a crash.

Ford is not aware of any accidents or injuries resulting from this condition.

What to do

Dealers will update the power steering control module software in affected vehicles. Ford's reference number for the recall is 19S02.

Owners may contact Ford at (866) 436-7332

At the eleventh hour, Sears has found someone to keep 400 of the company’s stores open and the lights on.

On Wednesday, Eddie Lampert, the chairman of Sears Holdings, struck a $5 billion deal to save the 126-year-old chain. The deal was struck after days of closed door push-and-pull over the number of jobs that would be saved, how Sears’ creditors would be paid, and what components -- like Sears Home Services -- would be kept alive.

As late as Tuesday night, the bid from Lampert’s hedge fund, ESL Investments, seemed doomed. Bloomberg News reported that people familiar with the situation said that the $5 billion final bid was $150 million over its previous offer.

Who is this Lampert fellow?

Lampert is well-known around Sears. The billionaire constructed Kmart’s $11 billion acquisition of Sears back in 2005 and, through his ESL hedge fund, is Sears’ largest shareholder. According to the Chicago Tribune, he’s provided Sears with more than $2.4 billion in loans and other financing over the last few years.

Previously, Lampert was a director at AutoNation and AutoZone.

Can Sears compete in the digital world?

Sears, Toys “R” Us, and other big box stores have felt the pinch of consumers moving toward online shopping. Now that it has a reprieve, Sears is faced with the task of re-inventing its business model like WalMart and Target have to make themselves viable.

Sears, under Lampert’s direction, was actually an early adopter of online shopping. In his 2011 shareholder’s letter, he bragged that Sears Holdings was named “Overall Best-in-Class" for its mobile efforts and ranked second for its online consumer experience, even going as far as comparing Sears’ strategy to Microsoft and Apple.

However, Lampert’s best laid plans for online prosperity didn’t succeed. Left with few choices, he opted to shave off $1 billion in expenses by selling off Craftsman tools and spinning off Land’s End. He also put a lot of the company’s retail footprints up on the real estate market in hopes of companies like Whole Foods taking over the left-behind space.

Still, some say the company has a lot more to pare down.

“Scale, which is critical to competing in retail today, will be lacking and its core customer proposition still remains in question,’’ said Moody’s Corp. Vice President Christina Boni. “Sears had been shrinking its store base and reducing costs in recent years, but improvement in sales trends and profitability remained elusive.’’

Verizon is expanding on its 2018 offer of six months of free access to Apple Music for select users. This week, the wireless carrier announced that new and existing customers can get access to Apple Music at no additional cost and with no six-month cap starting January 17.

Verizon decided to expand its partnership with the streaming service because its original free trial offer went over well with customers, said Angie Klein, Verizon’s vice president of marketing.

"When we introduced six months free of Apple Music to Verizon Unlimited subscribers, we said it was just the beginning of a great collaboration between Verizon and Apple to bring music streaming to our loyal customers,” Klein said in a statement.

"Our customers loved the offer, so we’re expanding the value of our Beyond Unlimited and Above Unlimited plans by including Apple Music at the same plan price. You can stream more of the music you love on the network you deserve.”

The free Apple Music offer is available to customers paying for the two more expensive Unlimited plans: Beyond Unlimited and Above Unlimited. For Go Unlimited customers, the six-month trial will still available.

Apple Music is still aiming to catch up to competing streaming services, such as Spotify.

As of May 2018, Apple Music had more than 50 million members (both paying and free-trial), Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an interview with Bloomberg last summer. As of September, Spotify had 87 million paying customers and an additional 109 million members using the ad-supported version.

Walmart pharmacies are likely to be pulled from CVS networks amid an ongoing dispute over pricing, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

If the dispute isn’t resolved by May, consumers with CVS-administered drug benefits and Medicaid enrollees with CVS drug coverage will be affected, CVS said in a statement announcing the split.

CVS said Walmart was demanding higher reimbursements for its in-store pharmacies, sites where customers who have CVS pharmacy-benefit management (PBM) plans could pick up their prescriptions.

Pinning the blame on Walmart, CVS said it “could not agree to [Walmart's] recent demands for an increase in reimbursement" and is preparing to move on without Walmart in its PBM network (called Caremark).

Derica Rice, president of CVS Caremark, said Walmart’s requested rates would result in “higher costs for our clients and consumers.”

“We simply could not agree to their recent demands for an increase in reimbursement,” Rice said.

Walmart pushing back

A spokeswoman for Walmart said the company is “disappointed CVS chose not to come to a resolution in a way that is beneficial to their members who are also our customers.”

Walmart said that it didn’t want to succumb to efforts by CVS to pressure consumers into going to certain pharmacies to have their prescriptions filled.

“This issue underscores the problems that can arise when a PBM can exert their unregulated power to direct members on where to fill their scripts, disrupting patients’ health care,” Walmart said in a statement. “Walmart is standing up to CVS’s behaviors that are putting pressure on pharmacies and disrupting patient care.”

The divergence of the two companies could come as early as next month if a new agreement isn’t reached, a source with knowledge of the matter told the Journal. CVS said the break up won’t affect Medicare beneficiaries in CVS’s Part D drug plans, and it won’t apply to Walmart’s Sam’s Club stores.

Over the course of three years, Facebook will invest $300 million into news partnerships in an effort to bolster resources for local reporting, explore ways to use technology as it pertains to news gathering, and recruit "trainee community journalists.”

The social media site has faced criticism for allowing misinformation to spread on its platform ahead of elections and breaking news moments. Campbell Brown, Facebook’s vice president of Global News Partnerships, said the new initiative will aid the company’s mission of “fighting fake news, misinformation, and low quality news on Facebook.”

Brown added that the new investments will also enable Facebook to make use of its “opportunity and responsibility” of “helping local news organizations grow and thrive."

Supporting local news

In addition to the $20 million Facebook has already distributed as part of its local news partnerships expansion, the company will distribute $16 million among the following non-profits and support organizations: Pulitzer Center, Report for America, the Knight-Lenfest News Transformation Fund, the Local Media Association, the Local Media Consortium, the American Journalism Project, and the Community News Project.

“We are grateful for Facebook’s commitment to helping us meet the challenges of today’s journalism, especially in smaller cities where the survival of news outlets depends on new models of reporting and community engagement,” said Pulitzer Center founder and executive director Jon Sawyer in a statement. “We also applaud Facebook’s commitment to the editorial independence that is absolutely essential to our success.”

At the start of 2018, Facebook announced a new push to make local news stories more visible in users’ feeds. The site also launched a feature called “Today In” that shows people local news and information.

The company said it asked Facebook users last year what kinds of news they want to see on their feeds. Users said they wanted to see more local content that is relevant to them. Facebook also asked its partners in the news industry “how we can better work with them to make a real impact,” and newsrooms said they could use more support.

“People want more local news, and local newsrooms are looking for more support. That’s why today we’re announcing an expanded effort around local news in the years ahead,” Facebook said in a statement.

Last year, Google announced a similar initiative aimed at combating the spread of misinformation by elevating quality journalism.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) affects nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain, and sufferers experience muscle degeneration over time. The disease is hard to treat and test for, as researchers have yet to find a biomarker for the condition.

Now, researchers from Harvard University have discovered that the protein TDP-43 -- which has been known to be linked to ALS for the last decade -- regulates the gene STMN2, which could serve as the first biomarker and potentially a source of treatment therapy for ALS sufferers.

“Once we had a connection between the TDP-43 and the loss of this other critical gene, STMN2, we could see how a motor neuron might begin to fail in ALS,” said researcher Joseph Klim.

What this means

While previous studies have been conducted on mice, the researchers wanted to see all of the genes that could affect the TDP-43 protein on humans, so they used human stem cell models for the experiment.

The researchers used RNA-sequencing to see which genes would change when the protein was altered, and of the genes tested, STMN2, which is commonly associated with neural repair,  was found to change along with TDP-43.

“With the discovery that our human stem cell model had predicted exactly what was happening in patients, [researcher Joseph Klim] went on to test in this system whether fixing [STMN2] could rescue the motor neuron degeneration in our dish caused by disrupting TDP-43,” said researcher Kevin Eggan.

According to Eggan, he believes the results from the experiments “provide great hope for patients,” as “rescuing expression of [STMN2] rescued motor neuron growth.”

The researchers evaluated RNA-sequencing from patients who had died due to ALS and found that the results were nearly identical to the ones produced from their stem-cell experiment. The researchers are confident that these results can lead to better diagnoses and treatment methods for ALS patients.

“These experiments point towards a clear path for testing whether repairing [STMN2] in patients can slow or stop their disease,” said Eggan. “The discovery we have made suggests a clear approach for developing a potential therapy for ALS -- one that would intervene in all but a very small number of individuals, regardless of the genetic cause of their disease.”

Treating ALS

While much still needs to be learned about how to both diagnose and treat ALS, there has been some headway in recent years. For example, researchers have found that consuming high levels of mercury -- sometimes accrued over time through foods like fish -- has been linked to a higher risk of ALS.

Additionally, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first drug for ALS in 22 years, as researchers found that the drug slowed the progression of the disease by over 30 percent.

Most recently, researchers found that using an old drug -- telbivudine, which is typically used to treat hepatitis -- was successful in targeting the SOD1 protein -- a protein that is known to “misbehave” in patients with ALS.

The drug was proven to be safe to use on patients, and researchers are confident that it can help improve quality of life.

Diabetes sufferers are constantly checking their insulin levels to avoid health scares, and researchers often try to make headway in making that process as easy as possible.

Now, researchers from the University of Bristol found that type 1 diabetes sufferers could see improvements in their day-to-day lives with the help of a medical detection dog. Having a detection dog to monitor glucose levels could serve as a non-invasive, all-natural option for patients.

“We already know from previous studies that patients’ quality of life is vastly improved by having a medical detection dog,” said lead researcher Dr. Nicola Rooney. “However, to date, evidence has come from small scale studies. Our study provides the first large-scale evaluation of using medical detection dogs to detect hypoglycemia.”

Life-saving treatment

To see just how effective the detection dogs can be, the researchers followed nearly 30 trained dogs and their owners across a six- to 12-week period.

The dogs are trained to respond to their specific owners’ needs, and as both pet and owner form a bond over time, the dog can become attuned to their owners’ behaviors, which can help alert the dog in case of emergency.

The dogs are trained to sniff out when their owners’ blood sugar is dipping too low, so they can be very effective at heading off a medical emergency before it can happen. Seeing the dogs’ response, an owner can take the necessary steps to regulate their blood sugar.

The researchers found that there are several variables at play that affect trained dogs’ effectiveness at responding to their owners’ varying blood sugar, including if the dog was previously a pet and how intense the dog’s training was.

However, the researchers found that the results were better than they anticipated, and they think this could be a great way for diabetes sufferers to have an all-natural remedy to regulating their blood sugar.

“Our research shows a dog’s effectiveness is affected by the individual dog and its connection with its human partner,” said Dr. Rooney. “Since the usage of such dogs is growing, it’s important that any dogs used for these purposes are professionally trained, matched, and monitored by professional organizations like Medical Detection Dogs. It’s also vital that research continues both to assess true efficacy and determine ways to optimize their performance.”

Too much testing

Medical detection dogs could serve as a good alternative, especially after a recent report found that many diabetes sufferers are checking their blood sugar too often.

According to the study, researchers found that millions of people with type 2 diabetes are checking their blood sugar more than is necessary, which can become costly to insurance companies and consumers. Additionally, for those testing too often, they can become inundated with so many different readings and become unsure of which ones to follow.

“One of my patients who didn’t need to be testing daily told me that her previous doctor had told her to test her sugar two or three times a day,” said researcher Dr. Kevin Platt. “These data show that over-testing is quite common -- and with the appropriate guidance can be reduced significantly.”

For those who don’t want to prick their fingers, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new device that would check blood sugar without a finger prick.

Users would insert a small sensor wire below the skin with a patch, and the device would always be monitoring the wearers’ blood sugar. To check current levels, users would wave a registered mobile device over the wire.