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Mammograms Linked to Cancer Overdiagnosis

Brent Edward
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0
Mammograms Linked to Cancer Overdiagnosis

A new study examining the benefits of mammograms have produced startling results.

One in eight women are going to develop breast cancer in their lifetime. To combat breast cancer, research has shown that breast cancer screening traditionally prevents the advancement of the disease. It is believed that breast cancer screening would make people feel better and live longer lives. But, a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine has many questioning the benefits of mammograms.

Denmark scientists examined the association between mammograms and the size of the detected tumors in order to determine how often physicians overdiagnosed their patients. After analyzing data from 1980 to 2010 and women between the ages of 35 to 84, researchers discovered that breast cancer screening did not reduce incidences of advanced cancer.

Ultimately, researchers assert mammograms screening did not lower incidences of advanced tumors nor did it lower the mortality rate associated with breast cancer.

Despite the results of the study, since 1990, the breast cancer mortality rate has dropped by 34%. However, African American women had the lowest survival rates of breast cancer in comparison to any other racial or ethnic group.

On Monday, a study published in the journal of Cancer found that Obamacare eliminated the costs and and expenses associated with preventative health care, including mammograms. Consequently, the number of mammograms increased under President Obama’s Affordable Healthcare Act. The lead author in the study, Dr. Gregory Cooper explained the removal of out-of-pocket costs made it easier for people to get preventative care.

With more than 200,000 cases in the United States every year, breast cancer traditionally affects women and in some rare instances affecting men. Symptoms include lumps, bloody discharge, and changes to the shape of the nipple or breast. But, new technology is being developed to detect cancers and other diseases. Last month, researchers revealed that they were able to detect 17 diseases by only examining someone’s breath and using AI sensors.

Facebook Releases New Plan to Combat Fake News

Jonathan Antonio
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0
Facebook Releases New Plan to Combat Fake News

In effort to combat fake news, Facebook has announced a new initiative, “The Facebook Journalism Project“.

On Wednesday, Facebook announced a new program to help disseminate real news and filter out fake news. The program features several different programs including development programs and training tools for both journalists and Facebook users.

In the 1,503 word blog post, Facebook’s Director of Product, Fidji Simo, explained that the company is focused on creating a healthy news atmosphere to allow for journalism to succeed. In their new initiative, Facebook plans on working with different news organizations to create tools to make people more informed in the new age of digital media.

Simo broke down a three point plan. The first plan consists of working with other news organizations. Simo explained that they are interested in partnering with journalists to build products that help news outlets. Facebook shares an example that includes using the social network’s ‘Instant Articles’ tool to share multiple news stories at one time and supporting news outlets that use subscription based revenue models. Another part of their collaborative effort includes focusing on assisting local news outlets.

Also, Facebook announced that they are working on helping their news partners monetize their videos by providing a live ad break in between regular videos.

Simo also explained that they will be using their hackathons to develop solutions to common problems people experience on the Facebook platform. Not to mention, during Facebook’s annual F8 conference, the company will be holding conferences on journalism and online publishing.

But, Facebook is not only working on collaborating with news organizations. The social media giant also explained that they will be providing online courses for journalists. The programs tailored for journalists include how news writers can utilize Facebook and Instagram to their advantage, how news outlets can connect and engage by using Facebook Live, and how to use Instant articles.

In addition, Facebook announced that their recently acquired platform, CrowdTangle is now free to their Facebook partners. CrowdTangle is a way for news outlets to find news content, compare how a news story is doing in comparison to other news outlets, as well as monitoring how a particular story is being shared online.

Simo also explained that they will also be informing Facebook users how to read the news. In an initiative called “Promoting news literacy” Facebook is going to release public service ads (PSAs) to help inform people how to think critically about the news they read.

Ultimately, Facebook explained that they are focused on ending fake news stories. In a previous report, the social media giant outlined a list of programs to stop the spread of fake news across the social network. In addition, the company partnered with fact-checking organizations to verify stories.

These new initiatives highlights Facebook’s new program to make it easier for journalists to share news on the social network while, eliminating fake news from the platform.

In saying that, Facebook has been caught in the middle a censorship controversy. The UK newspaper The Guardian posted a story on how Facebook’s inability to remove suicide videos is problematic. Then in Thailand, Facebook is reportedly censoring content that the government does not like.

Taco Bell is Now Making Shells Out of Fried Chicken

Reginald Edward
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0
Taco Bell is Now Making Shells Out of Fried Chicken

Just when you thought Taco Bell’s innovative food ideas were over, the fast food giant announced on Wednesday that they will be revealing a taco shell made out of all-white crispy chicken. What is this new food invention called? The Naked Chicken Chalupa.

Last week, Taco Bell announced their 2017 plan to release healthier food options to their customers. Then on Wednesday, Taco Bell announced they are “clucking the trend of traditional fried chicken.”

Taco Bell’s Chief Marketing Officer, Marisa Thalberg, explained the details of the new Taco Bell taco in a statement filled with puns and metaphors. “Something this delicious yet different is bound to ruffle some feathers; some might even cluck their tongues at it,” Thalberg revealed.

“However, we feel confident that once our fans get a taste of the Naked Chicken Chalupa they are going to understand exactly why this is our next big, fun and craveable innovation, following in the footsteps of the Doritos Locos Tacos five years ago and the Quesalupa just last year,” Thalberg added.

What’s inside Taco Bell’s Naked Chicken Chalupa?

Naked Chicken Chalupa Taco Bell
Taco Bell will be revealing a taco shell made out of all-white crispy chicken (Image Credit: Taco Bell)

Taco Bell explains that the shell is made out of “four ounces of marinated, all-white-meat, antibiotic-free chicken kicked up with bold Mexican spices and seasoning, and is packed with fresh shredded lettuce, diced ripe tomatoes, cheddar cheese and creamy avocado ranch.”

The Naked Chicken Chalupa will cost $2.99 and will also be featured in Taco Bell’s $5 Box.

Taco Bell’s history of food innovation

It’s important to highlight the success of the Doritos Locos Tacos. After the announcement and release of their new product, Taco Bell sold approximately 1 million Doritos Locos Tacos every day. In addition, made over $1 billion sales. Taco Bell later called it their most successful product launch in their fast food history.

But, that did not last long. By 2014, the Doritos Locos Tacos effect started to wear off. A two year old Bloomberg report found that after each and every new type of Doritos Locos Tacos, the impact of a sales increase slowly waned to single digit numbers.

How will the new Taco Bell Naked Chicken Chalupa impact the company? We will have to wait and see. The company plans to release the fried chicken shell taco nationwide on January 26th.

Chicago High School Shuts Down After Norovirus Outbreak

Brent Edward
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0
Chicago High School Shuts Down After Norovirus Outbreak

A Chicago high school has closed down for several days after hundreds of students and several staff members became sick due to a presumed norovirus outbreak.

In a statement, the St. Charles District 303 explained, “While a clinical determination has yet to be made about the stomach virus that is going around, the symptoms are similar to norovirus, so, we are following the procedures regarding norovirus. We are now working to assist the Illinois Department of Public Health in their efforts to more clearly identify this virus.”

The school continued on by saying, “The CDC recommends that people with norovirus be symptom free for 48 hours before returning to normal activities. With that in mind, classes at St. Charles East High School are cancelled on Wednesday, January 11 and will resume on Thursday, January 12.”

The high school continued on by advising parents to keep their children at home on Wednesday and to not allow students around each other.

Despite the school closing, doors are expected to reopen on Thursday, January 12th with finals taking place next week Tuesday.

What is the norovirus?

According to the CDC, the norovirus is a contagious virus that can be transmitted through contaminated food or water. In addition, the virus can be transmitted to others by touching contaminated objects. The virus then attacks the stomachs causing abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

This is not the first time this virus has made the news. Last March, a Boston Chipotle store closed down after several employees tested positive for the norovirus. Unfortunately, for Chipotle the outbreak controversy has never fully escaped the company. In fact, a recent Huffington Post/YouGov Poll found only 36% of people surveyed found Chipotle was safe to eat.

Type 1 Diabetes May Be Caused by a Virus

Brent Edward
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0
Type 1 Diabetes May Be Caused by a Virus

Researchers have published a study revealing that type 1 diabetes may be caused by a common virus.

Published in Diabetologia, researchers found that children that had type 1 diabetes were more likely to have had an enterovirus infection prior to their body began developing type 1 diabetes.

An enterovirus is a type of virus that causes symptoms similar to the cold. However, other enteroviruses such as the polio virus, can cause serious damage to the body.

Researchers examined over 1,000 stool samples from 129 children who had recently developed diabetes. In the process, scientists discovered that 80% of all individuals who had enteroviruses antibodies were recently diagnosed with diabetes.

Consequently, the study showed that an enterovirus infection is an early sign for the disease. In addition, children with the disease were 300% more likely to have had multiple enterovirus infections prior to getting diagnosed.

The lead researchers in the study explained in a statement, “The present study suggests that enterovirus infections in young children are associated with the appearance of islet autoantibodies with a time lag of about 1 year. This finding supports previous observations from other prospective studies suggesting that enterovirus infections may play a role in the initiation of the beta cell-damaging process.”

The most common type of enterovirus found in individuals with type-1 diabetes were three different variations of the coxsackievirus including coxsackievirus A16, a virus known to cause hand, foot and mouth disease.

This is not the first time researchers have linked enteroviruses to type 1 diabetes. A 2011 study found a strong clinical link between enterovirus infections and type 1 diabetes. But, this study is one of the most conclusive studies connecting the two diseases together.

What is Type 1 Diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes is a disease that is caused by the pancreas after the organ fails to produce enough insulin. With over 200,000 cases per year in the US, without enough insulin the body, cannot effectively process sugar in the body. Someone with type 1 diabetes may experience vomiting, frequent urination, blurred vision, increased hunger, and unexplained weight loss. In order to treat type 1 diabetes, many people have to take insulin injections in order to control their blood sugar. It’s important to note that there is no cure for the disease.

Egalet’s ‘Abuse-Deterrent’ Pain Killer Wins FDA Approval

Brent Edward
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0
Egalet’s ‘Abuse-Deterrent’ Pain Killer Wins FDA Approval

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced this week that they approved of an extended release pain killer called ARYMO ER by the pharmaceutical company Egalet.

It’s no secret that opioid abuse is a growing problem in the United States. Last month’s “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report” revealed a 300% increase in the number of drug overdose deaths from 1999 to 2014. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explained that the number of people who died from a drug overdose in New York increased by over 100%, with the largest number of opioid related drug overdoses taking place in New York, Connecticut and Illinois.

According to a press release, ARYMO ER was the first pharmaceutical product created by Egalet’s proprietary formula, which allows for a new way to treat pain. The company boasts in their announcement that unlike many other painkillers ARYMO ER is difficult for people to misuse and abuse making it an abuse-deterrent.

Essentially, Egalet designed a product that would make it difficult for people to chew, snort or otherwise misuse the painkiller. In effect, the pharmaceutical company was hoping that their proprietary Guardian Technology would allow for the FDA to grant the drug an abuse-deterrent label from the FDA. However, the FDA only allowed the abuse-deterrent label to be apply to dissolving or injecting the drug and not, snorting or chewing.

In a statement, Egalet’s president and CEO, Bob Radie, explained, “ARYMO ER has physical and chemical properties expected to make abuse by injection difficult which is important given it is the most common non-oral route of morphine abuse and the most dangerous.”

ARYMO ER will come in three different dosages: 15 mg, 30 mg and 60 mg. The commercial launch is planned for early 2017.

Monopoly is Letting Fans Vote for the Next Game Tokens

Reginald Edward
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0
Monopoly is Letting Fans Vote for the Next Game Tokens

For over 80 years, Monopoly has been one of the most popular board games in the country. Now, Monopoly is letting fans to vote and choose the next pieces for the upcoming updated version of the game.

Starting January 10th through January 31st, Monopoly fans can visit www.VoteMonopoly.com and choose eight different tokens that they would like to see in the updated version of the game. Voters have the chance to choose from over 50 tokens ranging from emojis, to sunglasses, to even mopeds.

The most popular game pieces or tokens will appear in the upcoming updated version of Monopoly called “Token Madness”.

This is not the first time Hasbro has changed a Monopoly game token. Three years ago, Monopoly held a poll on Facebook which led to the replacement of the classic iron with a cat. Then in 2015, Hasbro commented on their “Here & Now” version of the game to update cities and in 2016, the company created the “Ultimate Banking” Monopoly version getting rid of paper money for debit cards.

Monopoly Emoji tokens?

The decision to feature emojis may not be a bad idea. A study composed by Facebook found that older people tend to say “LOL” in comparison to younger generations. In fact, the study found younger people use emojis more frequently. Facebook said that after they analyzed comments in May 2015, they found young people prefer to use emojis in conversations, while older people use “LOL”. In addition, women also prefered emojis to letters in conversations.

Not to mention, a recent 2016 study by researchers at the University of Michigan examining over 400 million conversations featuring emojis, researchers found that the way people use emojis change depending upon where they live. In addition, the tears of joy emoji was the most popular emoji in the world.

 

The FBI Reportedly Has Paid Informants Working at Best Buy

Jonathan Antonio
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0
The FBI Reportedly Has Paid Informants Working at Best Buy

A new court case has many people questioning a relationship between the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and Best Buy.

It should not come as a surprise that the FBI has a number of paid informants. But, what is surprising is that the FBI has paid informants working at Best Buy.

In the case United States of America v. Mark A. Rettenmaier, Rettenmaier, who is a California physician and surgeon, dropped off his HP Pavilion desktop computer at a Mission Viejo Best Buy’s Geek Squad.

According to Federal court documents, Geek Squad technician John Trey Westphal was an FBI informant and reportedly found child pornography on a Rettenmaier’s computer. Westphal told his boss, another FBI informant, who alerted another coworker, who was also an FBI informant. Ultimately, they shared those photos with FBI agent Tracey Riley, who seized the hard drive.

While, this sounds like a traditional act of heroism to stop child pornography from spreading across the Internet, it is important to highlight that those three individuals were actually paid informants for the FBI. In fact, it was reported that one supervisor was paid $500 for their involvement.

According to a Washington Post report, Best Buy and the FBI did not force employees to actively search for child porn on behalf of the government agency instead, if an employee discovers illegal content to report it to the FBI. However, the defendant in this case claims that the FBI’s involvement actually encouraged Best Boy employees to search computers for illegal content.

Jeff Shelman, a spokesman for Best Buy, issued a statement yesterday saying the company and Geek Squad does not have a relationship with the FBI. However, if a repair agents discovers child pornography, then Shelman argues that the company has a “legal and moral obligation” to share that information with law enforcement. Shelman asserts that it is a policy they are proud of and something they share with their customers before any repair service.

With that being said, Shelman continued on by saying, “Any circumstances in which an employee received payment from the FBI is the result of extremely poor individual judgment, is not something we tolerate and is certainly not a part of our normal business behavior.”

Meanwhile, James D. Riddet, Rettenmaier’s defense attorney, argues that the relationship between the FBI and Best Buy is “so cozy” that “you run the risk that Best Buy is a branch of the FBI.”

With that being said, child pornography is the sexual exploitation of children. The Department of Justice reports that child pornography has exploded since more people started using the Internet. “The Internet provides ground for individuals to create, access, and share child sexual abuse images worldwide at the click of a button.”

$2 Billion Copyright Lawsuit Against Facebook Starts in Dallas

Jonathan Antonio
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0
$2 Billion Copyright Lawsuit Against Facebook Starts in Dallas

On Monday, a $2 billion copyright lawsuit against Facebook started in Dallas. The suit claims that Oculus VR stole key parts of its technology from video game company ZeniMax – Oculus was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for $2 billion. Lawyers for Facebook denied the claims but a prolonged trial could lead to a number to top Facebook executives being subpoenaed to testify – including founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.

At question is whether Facebook was aware of the potential copyright issue when it acquired Oculus. However, proving the connection may be a challenge for ZeniMax’ legal team. While one of its former employees left the company to join Oculus in 2013; lawyers will have to prove that he shared secrets with his new employers.

Furthermore, it is uncertain how this will impact Facebook. While the company now owns the intellectual property of Oculus, proving that Facebook was culpable in the theft will mean presenting evidence which shows that the company knew about the issue and decided not act.

In absence of proving its claims, the case will probably be thrown out of court. If this happen, the only option left to ZeniMax might be to sue the former executives of Oculus who profited from Facebook’s acquisition.

Some believe this might be a more winnable position for ZeniMax given some lingering questions about Oculus founder Palmer Luckey, who was only 17 when he developed his first Virtual Reality (VR) headset, the PR1.

In fact, a critical aspect of ZeniMax’ case is the ability to poke holes in the Oculus genesis story. According to Mr. Luckey, he developed the prototype for what became the Oculus Rift in his parent’s garage. However, the ZeniMax claims he lacked the equipment and expertise to accomplish this task.

As with most civil cases, the burden of proof is with the Plaintiffs and while lawyers for ZeniMax appeared confident in court on Monday, the first hurdle will be to make sure the case is not dismissed. If they can overcome this challenge, then it is likely that Facebook might seek an out-of-court settlement to ensure many of its senior executives are not called to testify.

Based on the regulatory filings the company currently has a free cash flow of $6 billion.  While $2 billion would represent a sizable chunk, a structured settlement would probably be significantly less than the total amount ZeniMax seeks in this case.

Along the lines of generating cash for Facebook, the company announced on Monday that it will start to embed ads in videos of 90-seconds or longer. The deal structure is somewhat similar to how Google’s YouTube has been selling advertising and many observers believe this could be a big revenue driver for Facebook going forward.

In other Facebook-related news, the company is under fire for censorship. Observers in Thailand noted the company has started to redact posts which are critical of the country’s new king. While the UK newspaper The Guardian ran an opinion piece on how Facebook’s failure to remove videos of people committing suicide is harmful.

Both developments highlight the challenges presented to Facebook as it seeks to take a more responsible approach to how it verifies and manages news and other events for its users.

Need to Getaway? Flights to Europe Are Now Only $69

Reginald Edward
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0
Need to Getaway? Flights to Europe Are Now Only $69

Looking for a getaway? WOW airlines announced that flights from California to Europe are now only $69; making it the cheapest trans-Atlantic flights between North America to Europe in the market.

The Icelandic carrier WOW announced on Tuesday that their flights from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Copenhagen, England and Scotland are only $69.99 one-way. The deal works for any flights from January 15th through April 5th.

The company’s CEO, Skúli Mogensen, explained that, “It’s exciting to be driving change in the industry and to stimulate the market by offering these super low fares across the Atlantic.”

Mogensen added that he is proud to enable more people to travel to places they would typically be able to afford.

Wow Airlines
(Image Credit wowair.us)

However, it is important to note that return flights are more expensive costing between $199.99 to $219.99.

WOW air’s discounted flights are flown by three new Airbus A330 aircrafts, which are the first planes of its class added to the airline.

What is WOW Airlines?

Launched five years ago by Mogensen, the airline travels to over 30 different destinations in Europe and North America. According to their press release, the company plans on having 17 different aircrafts by the end of 2017. In addition, in 2016 the company flew over a million passengers, increasing the number of travelers by 130% in comparison to 2015.

It’s important to note that low-price trans-atlantic fares are becoming more and more commonplace. Norwegian airlines announced last December their plans to cut the price of their flights from London to New York City for less than $70 one-way, which made it the cheapest flights in the industry at the time. The airlines were able to cut costs by leaving and arriving into smaller airports and using more fuel-efficient planes such as the Boeing 737MAX plane.

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