Category Archives: Reviews

Studies: Alcohol Abuse Increases Chronic Pain

April 23, 2023 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Scripps Research (April 21, 2023) – Chronic alcohol consumption may make people more sensitive to pain through two different molecular mechanisms—one driven by alcohol intake and one by alcohol withdrawal. That is one new conclusion by scientists at Scripps Research on the complex links between alcohol and pain.

The research, published in the British Journal of Pharmacology on April 12, 2023, also suggests potential new drug targets for treating alcohol-associated chronic pain and hypersensitivity.

“There is an urgent need to better understand the two-way street between chronic pain and alcohol dependence,” says senior author Marisa Roberto, PhD, the Schimmel Family Chair of Molecular Medicine, and a professor of neuroscience at Scripps Research. “Pain is both a widespread symptom in patients suffering from alcohol dependence, as well as a reason why people are driven to drink again.”

Alcohol use disorder (AUD), which encompasses the conditions commonly called alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence and alcohol addiction, affects 29.5 million people in the U.S. according to the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Over time, AUD can trigger the development of numerous chronic diseases, including heart disease, stroke, liver disease and some cancers.

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Analysis, Artificial Intelligence, Reviews, Society, Technology, Videos

Review: How AI Is Now Disrupting Societies (DW)

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DW News (April 23, 2023) – AI systems such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT are dominating headlines. There are concerns that their rise may lead to the displacement of millions of workers, blur the distinction between truth and falsehood, and amplify existing inequalities. Are the worries justified?

Analysis, Business, Retail, Reviews, Technology, Videos

Business: Robots Helping Retailers Save Billions

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CNBC (April 22, 2023) – Outfitted with cameras and sensors, autonomous inventory robots can verify price signs and look for out-of-stock items. Inventory is one of the biggest challenges retailers face.

Chapters: 0:00–2:07 Introduction 2:08–5:11 Chapter 1 Empty Shelves 5:12–9:26 Chapter 2 Inventory robots 9:27–12:31 Chapter 3 The future

Missed sales from empty shelves and out-of-stock items cost U.S. retailers $82 billion in 2021, according to NielsenIQ. But an army of inventory robots is being deployed that could help retailers appease angry customers, boost sales and respond to the ongoing worker shortage.

Art, Arts & Literature, Exhibitions, Magazines, Museums, Reviews

International Art: Apollo Magazine — May 2023

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Apollo Magazine – May 2023 issue:

FEATURES | Jaune Quick-to-See Smith talks to Samuel Reilly about breaking the ‘buckskin ceiling’; Grant Lewis on Handel’s art-buying habit; Elisa Germán talks to Apollo about the watercolours of Richard Foster Yarde; Louisa McKenzie on wax figures through the ages; Jonathan Griffin on the creative curating of Walter Hopps

REVIEWS | Imogen Tedbury on the experimental side of Giovanni Bellini; Nicola Shulman on tartan at the V&A Dundee; Matthew Sperling looks at Alice Neel’s paintings at the Barbican; William Carruthers digs deeper into the life of a formidable French archaeologist; Alice Minter is dazzled by a catalogue of the Louvre’s gold and silver

MARKET | Jane Morris on New York’s domination of the art market; plus the latest columns from Emma Crichton-Miller and Samuel Reilly

PLUS | Hettie Judah asks if artists are getting screwed over by galleries and museums; Rosamund Bartlett on how Sydney Modern is rethinking Australian art; Diane Smyth focuses on photography collections in the UK; William Aslet on the chequered history of St Mary-le-Strand; Thomas Marks watches La Grande Bouffe; Christina Makris drinks rosé at a sculpture park in Piedmont; Sophie Barling on the potter who turned back time; Helen Stoilas on what not to miss at TEFAF New York; plus our pick of the best exhibitions to see this month

What’s the point of studying fine art?

Enrolment in the humanities is tumbling across the United States, but the numbers for fine art are still holding up

Will Edward Bawden’s lost masterpiece ever be tracked down?

The hunt is on for an epic mural depicting ‘Country Life in Britain’ – but chances are it’s a wild goose chase

Finnish lines – a new look for the Ateneum in Helsinki

Finland’s most important art museum has been completely rehung just as questions of culture and national identity are on everyone’s mind

Financial, Investing, Magazines, Previews, Retirement, Reviews

Finance Preview: Barron’s Magazine – April 24, 2023

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Barron’s Magazine – April 24, 2023:

The Battle for the Future of the Car Is On. Tech Is a Weapon.

Auto makers are pressing ahead with “software-defined vehicles.” Here are the suppliers helping to make it happen.

Fewer Money Managers Are Bullish on the Stock Market Now

Professional investors favor bonds over stocks for the next 12 months, according to the Big Money Poll. The biggest risk to the market: recession.

Inside Barry Diller’s Plan to Stop ChatGPT From Destroying the News Business

Diller, chairman of IAC, says artificial intelligence could be an existential threat to publishers. He’s rallying the industry to fight back.

Arts & Literature, Books, Newspapers, Previews, Reviews

The New York Times Book Review – April 23, 2023

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The New York Times Book Review – April 23, 2023:

With His Tale of Shipwreck, David Grann Is Steady as He Goes

This illustration shows a sailing ship being tossed in heaving seas. The art is stylized, with mostly black, white and subtle blue lines, and the image is mirrored, so the same picture appears twice, once right-side up and the other upside down. — Credit…Naï Zakharia

The author’s latest book, “The Wager,” investigates the mysteries surrounding an 18th-century maritime disaster off Cape Horn.

There were multiple moments while reading David Grann’s new book, “The Wager,” about an 18th-century shipwreck, when it occurred to me that the kind of nonfiction narratives The New Yorker writer has become known for share something essential with a sturdy ship.

‘Biography of X’ Rewrites a Life Story and an American Century

The book jacket of “Biography of X,” by Catherine Lacey, is a deep red with a small, scrambled photograph of a woman’s face in the center.

Catherine Lacey’s new novel follows a polarizing artist through a fractured country.

The narrator of “Biography of X,” the new Catherine Lacey novel, is a journalist named C.M. Lucca who worked for a Village Voice-like newspaper in New York City during the 1980s. C.M. has a cool tone and a lonely intelligence; she’s a solitary spirit.

These Police Chiefs Are Working to Change Perceptions

A sea of uniformed police officers throng Fifth Avenue; an American flag waves in the background. — Police officers from across the country line Fifth Avenue for the funeral of the N.Y.P.D. officer Wilbert D. Mora, 2022.Credit…Karsten Moran for The New York Times

In “Walk the Walk,” Neil Gross profiles three departments around the country experimenting with genuine reform.

WALK THE WALK: How Three Police Chiefs Defied the Odds and Changed Cop Culture, by Neil Gross

Analysis, Automobiles, Business, Reviews, Technology, Videos

Electric Vehicles: The 2023 Shanghai Auto Show (WSJ)

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Wall Street Journal (April 21, 2023) – At this year’s auto show in Shanghai, international automakers like Volkswagen Group and Porsche are trying to keep up with Chinese EV manufacturers like BYD and Li Auto, who dominate China’s EV market.

Video timeline: 0:00 EVs and plug-in hybrids are in the spotlight at Auto Shanghai 0:37 BYD’s Seagull and Li Auto’s L8 on display 1:58 How international companies like Volkswagen and Porsche are trying to keep up with Chinese EV companies 3:07 What’s next for China’s EV market?

WSJ’s Yoko Kubota heads to the most prestigious car show in China and takes a look at what’s driving the latest trends.

Analysis, Climate Change, Culture, Food, Living, Retail, Reviews, Videos

Culture: Dal Lake Floating Market, Srinagar, Kashmir

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Insider Business (April 21, 2023) – For generations, farmers in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir have been selling their crops on the Dal Lake in a floating market. The lake is an economic hub for people living there – with many working in agriculture, fishing, and tourism. But decades of pollution have threatened their livelihoods.

The floating vegetable market on Dal Lake is in Srinagar, Kashmir, where locals trade out of their canoes. The produce sold here is grown in floating gardens.. The rich ecosystem of this wetland produces plenty of tomatoes, cucumbers, water chestnuts and the famous nadru (lotus roots, a delicacy in the Kashmir Valley).

They gather in the centre of the lake at dawn, and disappear just as sunlight hits the waters.

Aging, Books, Diet & Nutrition, Exercise, Health, Podcasts, Reviews

Healthy Aging: ‘Outlive – The Science And Art Of Longevity’ By Peter Attia

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Trained as an oncological surgeon, Attia became interested in longevity because he saw that the “Four Horsemen” worked against it: diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease. All play a role in an unhealthy system, and all interrelate.

‘OUTLIVE – THE SCIENCE & ART OF LONGEVITY’ BY PETER ATTIA, MD

Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity - Kindle edition by Attia MD, Peter . Health, Fitness & Dieting Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

A data- and anecdote-rich invitation to live better, and perhaps a little longer, by making scientifically smart choices.

If you have Type 2 diabetes, then your chances of developing heart disease, cancer, and neurological disorders increases, and if your goal is to live well in old age, then it behooves you to change your ways in order to keep your insulin reception levels in the clear. How to do so?

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