myGrilloCOM | Day: January 4, 2023

Does your teen check their social media every hour? It could impact their brain, study finds

January 4, 2023 Published by CNN

CNN
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Frequent use of social media could be reshaping how adolescents’ brains develop, a new study found.

Those who checked their platforms more often were more likely to be sensitive to general social rewards and punishments, according to the study published Tuesday.

“For youth who habitually check their social media, the brain is changing in a way that is becoming more and more sensitive to social feedback over time,” said lead study author Dr. Eva Telzer, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “And this is setting the stage for how the brain continues to develop into adulthood.”

Telzer and her team studied 169 sixth and seventh grade students in rural North Carolina to determine how habits around checking social media impacted their development.

Over a three-year period, the students — who were all 12 or 13 years old when the research began — reported their social media behavior and underwent annual fMRI imaging of their brains to see their neural responses to an onscreen display of positive and negative social feedback, such as a happy or angry face.

During that period, the students who reported checking their social media more regularly showed greater neural sensitivity in parts of the brain like the amygdala, Telzer said. Those who checked their social media less frequently saw less sensitivity in those areas on the fMRI.

It is not clear whether the neural changes resulted in behavioral changes, like increased anxiety or addictive behaviors, Telzer said.

It is important not to worry too soon, she added. The study established a strong correlation between social media habits and greater sensitivity to feedback, but it cannot say for sure if one is causing the other, she added.

It’s also unclear whether greater sensitivity to social consequences is a good or bad thing.

“Heightened sensitivity could lead to later compulsive social media behaviors, or it could reflect an adaptive neural change that helps teens navigate their social worlds,” Telzer said.

Social media is filled with ways to get feedback from peers, whether it is through the excitement of a like on a post or criticism from a mean comment, said Dr. Neha Chaudhary, chief medical officer of BeMe Health and child and adolescent psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Chaudhary was not involved in the study.

And adolescence is simultaneously a time of high social media use and critical brain development. Adolescent brains are going through the most development and reorganization, second only to infancy, making them more susceptible to environmental influences, Telzer said.

As a child and adolescent psychologist, Chaudhary said she has often wondered about the role social media plays in development.

It is possible that the results of the study point to social media changing adolescent brains, but it could also be that some of the students were already experiencing changes in their brain development that led to more social media use, Chaudhary said.

Whether brain changes are the chicken or the egg in this case, there are steps caregivers can take to help teens exercise caution around social media use.

“I’d strongly encourage folks — especially adolescents — to take frequent breaks from social media use,” Chaudhary said.

Doing so can help young people connect more deeply in person, feel more present and “separate from the constant, often anxiety-provoking, influx of information about the world and other people’s lives,” she said.

Chaudhary advised that families take a four-step approach to teens’ social media use: help them evaluate how they are using it, ask how social media serves them, encourage them to identify changes they want, and make a plan to get there, she wrote in a 2021 story.

And even for young people who like to spend time online, there are ways to do it that don’t pose some of the potential risks social media does, she added.

“It might be time to find those non-social media apps and digital experiences and rethink how much time you spend on platforms that aren’t leaving you feeling calm, refreshed, and in a better headspace,” Chaudhary said.

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Breast cancer drugs face a ‘whack-a-mole’ problem

January 4, 2023 Published by Futurity (National Geo)

Researchers have discovered for the first time how deadly hard-to-treat breast cancers persist after chemotherapy.

The findings reveal why patients with these cancers don’t respond well to immunotherapies designed to clear out remaining tumor cells by revving up the immune system.

Thanks to advances in cancer therapies, most forms of breast cancer are highly treatable, especially when caught early.

But the last frontier cases—those that can’t be treated with hormone or targeted therapies and don’t respond to chemotherapy—remain the deadliest and hardest to treat.

The process of surviving chemotherapy triggers a program of immune checkpoints that shield breast cancer cells from different lines of attack by the immune system. It creates a “whack-a-mole” problem for immunotherapy drugs called checkpoint inhibitors that may kill tumor cells expressing one checkpoint but not others that have multiple checkpoints, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Cancer.

“Breast cancers don’t respond well to immune checkpoint inhibitors, but it has never really been understood why,” says corresponding author James Jackson, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Tulane University School of Medicine.

“We found that they avoid immune clearance by expressing a complex, redundant program of checkpoint genes and immune modulatory genes. The tumor completely changes after chemotherapy treatment into this thing that is essentially built to block the immune system.”

Researchers studied the process in mouse and human breast tumors and identified 16 immune checkpoint genes that encode proteins designed to inactivate cancer-killing T-cells.

“We’re among the first to actually study the tumor that survives post-chemotherapy, which is called the residual disease, to see what kind of immunotherapy targets are expressed,” says first author Ashkan Shahbandi, an MD/PhD student in Jackson’s lab.

The tumors that respond the worst to chemotherapy enter a state of dormancy—called cellular senescence—instead of dying after treatment. Researchers found two major populations of senescent tumor cells, each expressing different immune checkpoints activated by specific signaling pathways. They showed the expression of immune evasion programs in tumor cells required both chemotherapy to induce a senescent state and signals from non-tumor cells.

They tested a combination of drugs aimed at these different immune checkpoints. While response could be improved, these strategies failed to fully eradicate the majority of tumors.

“Our findings reveal the challenge of eliminating residual disease populated by senescent cells that activate complex immune inhibitory programs,” Jackson says.

“Breast cancer patients will need rational, personalized strategies that target the specific checkpoints induced by the chemotherapy treatment.”

Source: Tulane University

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White House press secretary blames GOP, claims President Biden worked on border security since ‘day one’

January 4, 2023 Published by

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News

White House officials say border security and immigration are issues President Biden has taken “very seriously since day one,” and blamed Republican political stunts for slowing down progress.

During Tuesday’s White House press briefing, Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre whether anyone at the White House thinks the southern border is secure.

In response, Jean-Pierre said Biden has been working since “day one” on border security, making immigration a priority, adding that was why he proposed a comprehensive immigration reform plan policy.

OOPS! WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY JEAN-PIERRE READS WRONG SCRIPT DURING BRIEFING

“The president is coming forward and trying to come up with solutions,” she said. “But the difference here is that you have Republicans, as you know, who are doing political stunts. And, you know, and we’ve called that out over and over and over again.”

She said Biden is willing to work with Congress, Republicans, Democrats and Independents to work on these issues that matter to the American people.

“But, this is an issue that the president has taken very seriously since day one of his administration,” Jean-Pierre added.

On day one of President Biden’s term, he signed one executive order regarding the southern border, which was to stop construction of a wall.

The White House website said Biden declared “an immediate termination of the national emergency declaration that was used as a pretext to justify some of the funding diversions for the wall.”

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE RIDICULED FOR CLAIMING ‘THERE WAS SUPPRESSION’ IN GA ELECTION: ‘CONSPIRACY THEORY MUCH?’

The order also put an immediate pause on wall construction projects for a close review of the legality of the funding and contracting methods used.

In another executive order, Biden fortified protections for “Dreamers,” or young immigrants brought to the country as children after former President Donald Trump tried to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

Biden’s memorandum called on Congress to enact legislation providing permanent status and a path to citizenship for people who came to the U.S. as children and lived, worked, and contributed to the country.

BIDEN TELLS MIGRANTS ‘DON’T COME’ TO US AS BORDER CRISIS SURGES

But in terms of providing security along the border on day one, none of the president’s executive orders suggest he did so.

During a 2019 Democratic presidential primary debate, Biden said the U.S. is a country that tells people struggling under oppression or poor conditions, “You should come,” as he argued for a more open asylum policy.

He then changed his tune after taking office and having to deal with migrants on the southwestern border – many being kept in poor conditions like those the Democrats considered a scandal under the Trump administration – and telling the migrants to remain in place.

“I can say quite clearly don’t come over,” Biden told ABC’s George Stephanopolous in 2019. “So don’t leave your town or city or community. We’re gonna make sure we have facilities in those cities and towns run by department of — by DHS and also access with HHS, the Health and Human Services, to say you can apply for asylum from where you are right now.”

ICE DEPORTATIONS REMAINED WELL BELOW TRUMP-ERA LEVELS IN FY 2022, AMID HISTORIC BORDER CRISIS

Biden has not visited the southern border since becoming president. His administration has sued to end the Trump-era Title 42 protocol and has sued states to stop them from constructing barriers on their borders with Mexico. Arizona is removing shipping containers it placed on the border to deter illegal crossings, in response to a Biden administration lawsuit against it.

Doocy rephrased his question on Tuesday to Jean-Pierre, asking if the White House believed the border was secure.

Jean-Pierre said Biden has taken historic actions that no other president was able to do, adding that 23,000 agents were mobilized to the border to manage the influx of immigrants crossing the border illegally, without much support from Republicans.

She never answered the question directly, and instead spoke about what the president has done to address the issue.

“I just said it moments ago. He’s willing to work with Republicans,” she said. “He’s willing to work with Democrats. He’s willing to work with Independents to work on this issue, to move forward with his comprehensive plan that he put forward on day one of his administration.”

I Tried the New Pimple Patch That’s So Thin, You Can Seamlessly (and Secretly) Wear It Under Makeup

January 4, 2023 Published by Kara Jillian Brown

Well+Good

Pimples happen, but that doesn’t mean they’re pleasant. They hurt, ooze, and aren’t exactly easy to work around. When I’m experiencing a breakout, I want to be able to use my favorite makeup without worrying about irritating my already-angry pimple or having a whitehead leak midday. For years, I’ve leaned on pimple patches to provide a barrier between my pimples and my makeup to prevent the aforementioned issues—and Peace Out just made this process even more seamless. Now, I use the new Acne Day Dots under my foundation. They’re pimple patches that are 61 percent thinner than the brand’s OG patches, allowing them to wear beautifully under makeup.

Peace Out Acne Day Dot — $19.00

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Peace Out Acne Day Dots ($19) is an ultra-sheer, ultra-thin version of Peace Out’s bestselling Acne Dots ($19). They’re designed to look as invisible as possible, whether you’re wearing them on their own or under makeup. The hydrocolloid patches work by using itty bitty “micro darts” to absorb excess fluid and pull dirt and oil out of a pimple, helping decrease its size. The darts also deliver salicylic acid and retinol deep down into the zit to speed up the healing process, and the patches are infused with aloe vera to soothe the skin and minimize the appearance of redness.

Trying the new Peace Out Acne Day Dot

It was clear from the moment I opened the package that these dots were different. They’re super thin—so thin that it’s kind of hard to remove them from their sticker-sheets without them folding in on each other and creating a deep seam that’s impossible to smooth. To prevent this, I’ve found that the best way to apply them is to use pair of tweezers. Any will do, but I prefer something curved with a thin tip, like the curved tweezers in this set ($6).

Mioblet Straight and Curved Pointed Tweezers — $6.00

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Me wearing the Peace Out Acne Day Dot under makeup.

In the photo above, I wore the patch over a pimple and under the True Botanicals Everyday Skin Tint SPF 30 ($54), and loved the way it looked. Is the patch totally invisible? Of course not. It’s still a sticker on my face. But it allows me to protect and heal my pimples in the least-obvious way possible without having to sacrifice wearing makeup, which is a definite win.

For comparison’s sake, I tried this patch alongside two others on my forehead. (Full disclosure: I tested them on pimple-less skin, as I did not happen to have three pimples in a row on my forehead.) Even without makeup, the new Peace Out dot is the clear (pun very much intended) front-runner for its stealthiness. The finish has a subtle warmth to it that allows it to blend more seamlessly into my skin—the other two had a sterile blue hue that made them more noticeable. And once I applied makeup, I could really see what made the New Day Acne Dot so special. It’s so thin that the natural little bumps and divots on my skin were still visible. In other words, the patch appears super skin-like, and allows my natural texture to show through instead of creating an artificial-looking smoothness.

The new Peace Out Acne Day dot is in the pink circle to the right.

While the new Peace Out dot isn’t fully invisible (again, that’s impossible), it serves as a perfect, hard-to-spot-unless-you’re-looking-closely barrier between pimples and makeup. While there are certainly days I wanna wear my pimple patches with pride à la Starface, there are also days when I just want to make my pimples as inconspicuous as possible. And the Peace Out Acne Day Dot does just that.

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2024 VW ID.7 Electric Sedan Comes To CES With Up To 435-Mile Range

January 4, 2023 Published by Thanos Pappas

Carscoops

Volkswagen chose the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to preview its first fully electric sedan – the ID.7. The production version of the ID.Aero concept will launch in the second quarter of 2023. VW covered the exterior of the car with a “smart” camouflage, but they showed us the interior and detailed some of the tech features of the upcoming MEB-based model.

In terms of styling, the VW ID.7 looks very similar to the ID.Aero concept from June 2022, retaining its aerodynamic silhouette although some details have been toned-down for production. Those include the simpler LED lighting units, the larger mirror caps, the slightly redesigned bumpers, and the smaller-diameter alloy wheels.

Read: VW’s Updated MEB+ Platform To Offer Faster Charging And Longer Range

The camoulfaged prototype of the VW ID.7 (above) is slightly toned down compared to the ID.Aero concept (below) from last year.

The special camouflage that VW used on the ID.7 creates electroluminescent light effects in different colors, with graphics inspired by QR codes. In order to achieve this result, VW applied 40 layers of paint with conductive or insulating properties, allowing 22 areas of the bodywork to be independently illuminated and create a special show when connected to the sound system.

Thankfully, the interior is fully uncovered, revealing the final production-spec design. The large 15-inch free-standing tablet-style touchscreen for the infotainment is combined with a small digital instrument cluster and VW’s augmented reality head-up display. The touch sliders under the screen which control the climate functions and the volume are now illuminated. However, the steering wheel retains the touch-sensitive controls that will soon be replaced by regular buttons in VW models following customer feedback.

A highlight of the interior is the digitally controlled “Smart Air Vents”. According to VW, the system recognizes the driver from the key, and cools or heats the interior before they step into the vehicle. The air conditioning system can automatically distribute the air over large areas, or direct the flow towards the body of the passengers. Those functions can be activated for each passenger through the central touchscreen or by using voice commands.

The VW ID.7 rides on the MEB architecture which has been upgraded to MEB+ for a longer range and faster charging rates. While we don’t have detailed specifications yet, we expect the model to be offered in single and dual electric motor configurations, with a large floor-mounted battery pack. The German carmaker describes the model as an “efficient electric sedan with long-range capability”, announcing an estimated range of up to 700 km (435 miles) based on a simulated WLTP cycle.

VW also revealed that the ID.7 will have a wheelbase of 116.9 inches (2,969 mm). This is 3.7 inches (94 mm) longer compared to the Tesla Model 3, and 0.8 inches (20 mm) longer than the Hyundai Ioniq 6, both of which are considered rivals. The EV’s wheelbase is also 6.5 inches (165 mm) longer than in the ICE-powered VW Passat, resulting in a more spacious cabin.

The VW ID.7 will be available on three continents – Europe, Asia (China), and North America. Its official launch is scheduled for the second quarter of 2023. For European markets, production will take place at the Emden plant in Germany together with the ID.4. The electric sedan will be the sixth model in the ID range, and one of 10 new EVs that Volkswagen will launch by 2026.